Contributed by Harry

Hurray! We finally got a “big snow” up here on our mountain! (I know there are many out there that do not like snow, sorry.) In two days it snowed more than all of last winter combined! Of, course, it was not as much snow as some other parts of the country got, but still, it’s a lot.

The first bit of snow came down quiet, gentle and nearly windless, piling up on tree branches, even the small twigs. The three or four inches accumulation was so pretty.

The second, bigger storm came in on roaring winds. Because of the wind, it is hard to know how much really came down. In some places it was eight inches deep, in other places it was 24 inches deep. In many places it was up to the dogs’ bellies! Deli loves to roll in it; Grace likes to dance in it and then just lie in it; Tulsi seems to be indifferent though she does, on occasion, like to run and scoop snow into her mouth.  They all have to bite the snow from between their toes when they come back into the cave.

There is so much to like about snow:

* As it falls and accumulates, it is so quiet. Few go out in it to make noise and the noise that is made just gets swallowed up in it.

* The crunch of fresh cold snow under foot is unlike any noise you will hear in spring, summer or fall. And much more pleasing a sound than the ‘splet’ and ‘squelsh’ as it warms up and turns to slush as you step in it.

* The snow swirling and dancing as it is driven across the ground just looks happy! It makes me happy! Where will it come to rest?

* The clean fresh surface lets us see who has passed. You can follow tracks of Mrs. Rabbit to see where she has gone. You can see what the birds like to eat with their chaotic dance under a branch that used to be full of seeds. You can know that Mr. Deer has been searching for food in the meadow.  It can tell interesting stories if you know how to read it.

  * After the clouds have dropped their frozen cargo and departed, the sun comes and makes every snowflake sparkle like the whole world is covered in diamond dust.

* The trees on the tops of the taller mountains have collected a glaze of ice because they stuck up into the clouds gathering water before it froze into snowflakes. They are so beautiful as they shimmer in the sun with a different sparkle than the snow.

* You can make snow angels.

* You can make snow bears… and rabbits… and people.

* You can make snow forts and castles, if you have enough.

* You can see the snow covered ground under the trees on the mountains across the valley. You can see the flow and roll of the land better and that white surface under the snowless gray trees makes the mountains look like they are wearing a dark furry coat.

* Snow creates rare funny creatures.

* You can make snow cream!

* After playing (and working) in it, you can go inside and warm up by the fire!

Snow is not so bad. I like it.

Harry

Contributed by Harry

Most Animals in the northern hemisphere know the Sun and Earth have started another cycle of life at the Solstice. The Animals in the southern hemisphere will restart their cycle in 6 months. Humans have picked a different marker to celebrate renewal.

To all our readers, human and otherwise, Happy New Year

In our woods, the First Breath of Spring bushes (Lonicera fragrantissima) and the Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) are in full bloom offering food to any brave bees willing to venture out to forage as the local temperatures finally begin to drop after the warm Christmas rains.

The kids have all departed for their own homes in far-off places. They left me a much-appreciated gift of a denim apron to help keep shavings and sawdust out of my pockets. The oldest son helped me (actually, he did all the cutting!) take down a neighbor’s dead maple (sugar, I think (Acer saccarum) which I will turn into bowls and other useful things (probably including heat).

Unfortunately, the apron, during its first use, did not protect my hand from a flying, lathe-ejected piece of bark.  OUCH!

A couple of dried Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flowers bound to the wound under a bandage, quickly stopped the bleeding and accelerated the healing such that while it still feels traumatized, it is nearly healed after only three days.

For Christmas, I gave Deb a crudely carved spatula I freed from a twisted piece of cherry firewood.  Look how beautiful the grain is!

She also received this little bowl I discovered hiding in an old black locust fence post.

I also removed the ‘waste’ from a small piece of soft mahogany scrap from Deb’s Dad’s old workshop.

Nature creates such amazing and wonderful masterpieces with trees and other plants.

I hope you’ll look around and find some miracles!

Harry

Contributed by Harry

It’s not officially Winter yet, but it sure has a wintery feel:  temperatures hovering around freezing in the mornings; occasional frost; mountainsides devoid of colors other than browns and grays – save the few pines, spruce and firs…

There are a very few lingering goldenrod, purple aster and yarrow flowers stubbornly displaying their defiance, but most of the summer flowers have produced their seed heads resulting in lots of fluffy clumps of various shades of off-white up the mountainside. The large mounds of virgin’s bower seed heads covering the dying vines always look frosty.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of the leaves have abandoned their tenuous perches and now begin their slow decomposition on the forest floor to humus to nourish their former hosts and new growth in the Spring.

The multiflora rose hips have changed from hard dry orange to softer bright red and, while they will never be as tasty as some other hips, have taken a decided turn toward a Vitamin C-laden sourness and sweetness.

Even the last of the domestic and escaped apples have ripened. A couple of prized trees have fruit that rival the Gala, Fuji and HoneyCrisp in flavor, texture and sweetness. YUM! (From which Deb, or one of the daughters, occasionally makes a pie for me.)

The scraps from the woodshop are knocking the morning chill back and warming us pleasantly as I write this. The scraps won’t last long when Winter really takes hold, but I and a couple of the offsprings cut and split about six cords of firewood this past Summer that will hopefully provide two or three years warmth.

Speaking of the woodshop, I seem to have been cursed with the need to look at every piece of firewood as a potential project to be sawn, planed, bored, carved, turned or otherwise magicked into a practical or aesthetic object.

Ah, well, back to the apothecary. I need to whip up something Deb suggests I take for this cough while we eagerly await the first snow. (Which we had had by this time last year and does not look at all imminent – just another bout of heavy rain.)

Happy day to you!

Harry