In winter, the main happenings in nature around here often are linked to the weather. Animal sightings are rare, except for their imprints in the snow. Even then, it’s mainly the tracks of the snowshoe hare, the deer, and the coyote that are visible and that I recognize. Birds seen – without a feeder, because otherwise the cat would kill too many – are those that overwinter, e.g. the black-capped chickadee, the crow and the blue jay. So the weather becomes the big story.
We just had a fairly big snow storm, though not as significant as predicted, or the blizzard they had in other parts of North America. Even then, we had at least 30 cm (10”) and it took a lot of shovelling to clear the car and the mail box.
On previous occasions, the woman who drives the mail delivery car complained about the mailbox not being cleared enough. Therefore I always put an extra effort in, so we don’t get frowned upon again.
Then there is the path to the car, which in winter stays by the road and some 200 meters (yards) from the house. I try to beat down a path with snowshoes, and yesterday walked out and down three times, to pack it down somewhat. But it happens often enough that I cannot find the exact path beaten down previously and when I walk down without snowshoes, end up sinking very deep into the snow, above knee level and it gets hard to come out again. Also, because of that problem, I usually put snow pants on to go to the car, so as not to get a bootful. My husband, who has hip problems and finds it difficult to walk, particularly on uneven surfaces, hesitates to walk on this snow path until it’s well beaten down.
Our dog, Lucy, is a border collie. She loves playing in the snow while I’m clearing it, jumping in the air to catch the snow thrown onto the banks. But she does not like crossing a frozen stream. She can hear the water flowing under the ice and is very reluctant to step onto the ice. Yesterday, when I made a snowshoe path over the stream, she would not follow me, even with much cajoling. I even tried enticing her with a stick, which she loves to catch. But no, nothing would move her across. Instead, she waited by the stream for over two hours, while I cleared the snow by the road.
Such is the excitement of a winter day.
Today early am temperature was minus 13C, with wind 20 km/hr, sunny with cloudy periods - a pleasant day to clear the snow.
