Month: February 2021

Pull of the moon

I kept watching the clock this afternoon. At 3:51 p.m., the moon was rising. Not a full moon, but only a night away from full, and the sky was cloudless. Maybe not so tomorrow night. And so it was tonight, the time to go. My anticipation rose with the moon.

Winter normally affords only one, maybe two, opportunities to snowshoe or ski comfortably by the light of a full moon. For me, the necessary trifecta is the right temperature, a cloudless sky, and, of course, the full, or nearly full, moon.

That all came together tonight, with the temperature barely dropping below freezing as the sun slipped away from a springlike late February afternoon. I would leave the house at 6:51 p.m., exactly 3 hours into the moon’s night ride. It was nearly halfway up in the eastern sky when I strapped on snowshoes and put them to the trail.

I hoped to see animals moving in the moonlit meadow or across the large field as I crossed from the wide snowmobile trail to my narrow path in the forest. But the melting and freezing of the past few days created a crust atop the snow. Crunch, crunch, crunch spoke my snowshoes. I would not be sneaking up on any animals tonight.

The full moon was behind me to begin with, a slight breeze in my face. My shadow danced in front of me—a snowshoe waltz. I crossed the open field, the wide expanse allowing me to study the sky—Orion the Hunter and Sirius the Dog Star high in the south, the Big Dipper standing on its handle in the northeast, and halfway up in the east was the moon, 250,000 miles away but seemingly riding on my shoulders as I headed west.

The dark, jagged form of the hilly forest was a half mile away. It wasn’t that dark when I got there. Of course, that was the point, this full moon jaunt. The path was easily visible in front of me as a white ribbon tinged in blue, though always trailing into a dark curve. I’d reach the curve and see the next stretch of ribbon awaiting me. I paused to listen for an owl, perhaps a coyote or fox, but heard nothing.

I took photos—a tough assignment at night without the aid of a tripod—and then pushed on again. I realized I hadn’t put my gloves back on, but my hands were comfortable. There was no breeze here, only the sifting of the moonlight through the bare branches and portals in the pine boughs. I saw rabbit tracks, and wondered how the cottontails adjust to the lighted night, their nocturnal rounds more visible to peering owls.

I headed home, my shadow tagging along behind. All I heard were my snowshoes and the rhythm of my jogging steps. For a moment, it was nature’s night song, the wings of a migrating bird, the flow of a creek, the call of an owl and all the intricacies and mysteries of a winter’s night.

I traversed the meadow and turned onto the wide trail that leads me home. Sirius was my guide, high and straight ahead. Yes, Sirius the Dog Star, whose spirit I always told my good dog was in him. I stared at Sirius, with the glowing moon on my left shoulder. Soft and peaceful was the night.

Our buds of winter

They’ve been there all winter, you know, those buds on the trees. Perhaps we will notice them more now as temperatures moderate and we get outside to look for signs of winter giving up. When we see the buds, we can appreciate that they’ve survived below-zero days and nights to give us hope for spring and all its greenness.

Buds form in late summer at the base of leaf stems. As soon as colored leaves fall in autumn, the new buds enveloping next spring’s new leaves, flowers and stems are visible. But we may be too busy raking leaves to notice the infancy of next year’s crop.

It’s more fun to take a look now as we search for signs of approaching spring. Against a blue sky of February, the buds of birch, maple, box elder and lilac trees in the back yard are easily revealed. So when we say trees are “budding” in spring, what we actually mean is that the buds that have been there all winter are “bursting.” Yes, in spring, the buds will be warmed and swell to a point that they burst from the outer scale that protected them in their dormant state of winter.

I snipped off a twig from the birch tree and slit open the scale with a sharp knife to reveal a tiny green bud—a leaf—about a quarter-inch long. Imagine, these little green leaves wrapped up tight and protected from the days and nights of below-zero temperatures. These miniscule oblong buds, now tucked inside the hard cover of the bud scale, will emerge as tiny leaves and grow and grow and grow into our summer shade and fall colors.

So take a look this winter at the tree buds and wonder at the precision of nature in protecting what will be the beauty of trees through spring, summer and fall. These buds over the next couple of months will be teased to burst open with spring fever, much the same as every one of us. But we will all have to wait until the time is right.

Trails for life

The first trails I followed were cow paths. They were pretty safe routes for a little tyke because they all led back to the barn and farmyard. Safe at home.

I’d run along the narrow paths with a dog following, making up names for the paths that the cows slowly plodded along single file in their daily routine. The names originated from my latest childhood fascination, perhaps a television show or a day trip with my parents.

I would continue to follow trails, being engaged while on them and enthused by what they offered as my outdoor explorations expanded. So, too, did my days of more hunting freedom, as in hunting solo. Cow paths turned to deer trails, and I’d follow logging roads, past and present.

Later I found myself winding through the woodlands on cross-country ski trails. On ambitious days I’d ski on groomed trails—sometimes snowmobile trails—for 20 miles or more. I’d also blaze my own snowshoe trails where nobody else ventured. Still do.

At a settling point in my life, new trails of a whole different plan and purpose came along. They were in the back yard, for my wife and I had taken on two four-legged boys who needed a route to stretch their legs and exhaust their energy in the winter. The dogs’ play trail was in the shape of a triangle, starting and ending at the foot of the deck (again, safe at home). After every snowfall I’d shovel the 300 linear feet of dog trails and then smile at wagging dog tails.

I’d toss their ball and it would roll quickly down the slight and slick incline, sending the dogs hurdling into deep snow if they caught up to it too late. They didn’t care. With gusto and white noses they’d retrieve the ball from the powder and get back on track, one chasing the other to the triangle’s next point. One of the dogs played his own game of ball, setting it at the top of the incline and nose-nudging it until it picked up steam.

Those trails are no longer, as the boys are gone now. So my energy goes back into the trails of exploration and recreation while running, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. I miss the trails of the past, but am grateful for the memories and the hours of learning and laughing along those paths. I am still learning and laughing on the trails of the present, all the while wondering but not worrying about the trails of the future. I look forward to them, wherever they take me, whatever they teach me, whenever they call me.

Somehow, life’s trails always lead back home. Safe, and warm, at home.

A little winter’s help

It’s 5˚, and with a healthy northwest wind there’s a -15˚ wind chill, or “feel like” temperature as the weather folks like to say these days. No matter the shrill chill chasing 5 inches of new snow, the corn delivery must go through. You see, it’s this point of winter when I worry about game birds—pheasants and ruffed grouse to be exact—as they take a survival test in the snow, cold and wind.

So I’m taking corn and bird seed to the pheasants and grouse I have seen along my snowshoe trail, where I wind through the meadow grasses and next to thickets along a field. These spots hold birds, and I have seen them flush from one brushy spot to another many times, escaping the perceived threat I present on snowshoes.

A couple of winters ago five pheasants got up from the narrow thicket bordering a corn field. The birds flew northward a couple of hundred yards. It happened again at the start of this winter—not five birds but a single colorful ringneck. It flew to the same spot. So I headed that direction, to a confluence of meadow, creek, brush and fallen trees on the edge of a woods.

I was drawn to a downed tree in a tangle of brush. It was a foot or so off the ground, with pheasant tracks going back and forth from it to where long grass was deposited by the creek’s high waters. The thick clumps of grass are hung up on fallen branches, creating tent-like shelters, perhaps perfect for the wintering pheasant. By the log there was little snow, so the next time I came I brought shelled corn to the sheltered patch and also cleared a plot spot by the first thicket.

The trips are nearly daily now. The corn and seeds keep disappearing. There are bird tracks in both spots. I hope I’m helping both species; maybe there will be one more brood of each this spring because of my deliveries.

The grouse caught a break this week with 5 inches of fluffy snow falling. They now have the 10 inches of snow required to burrow into for warmth. The snow’s insulation factor provides the birds conditions 30˚ warmer than the air temperature. I’ll never forget the first time I scared a grouse from its snow roost. I had stopped to rest while cross-country skiing when suddenly the snowbank next to me exploded with feathers and snow. A grouse winged away into the blue winter sky as snow softly settled on my skis.

I worry more about the pheasants now as, like turkeys, their scratching for waste grain is limited by snow depth. They feed on what they find, even the seeds of the dead and bronzed tansies, goldenrod and thistles in the meadow and at the edge of the field. Of course, “my pheasants” are also feeding on shelled corn delivered via snowshoe express.

I stand between the food plot and field, letting the February sun find me fully as I turn my back to the wind. I see pheasant and grouse tracks leading to the gift of corn and sunflower seeds. It all disappears by the next day, only to be replenished. For now, these birds are well fed. So, too, is my soul.