Winter Twilight Musings

Sunset.

Viewed with admiration for the beauty wrought and no little trepidation – it was -4°F. last night and tonight promises little improvement, judging from the clear skies and steady barometer. I woke to frozen water dish for the animals and a floor so cold it made me hop until I found some socks and slippers. This is the start of Winter as I fear and detest it. For the next few months, huge, deep highs will roll down from the Arctic, only to be shoved out to sea by deep lows from the South, bringing snow and ice and freezing rain, short thermal respites before we once again plunge into the deep freeze of a Maine winter. This is what Snowbirds seek to escape, the mind-numbing, bone-chilling, pop the nails out of the house siding cold. Absolute misery amid glorious sunshine that fails to warm.

The deer are yarded deep in the spruce and fir on the back 40. It’d be a disservice to disturb them now – any expenditure of energy is extremely costly in the winter. Coyotes and dogs wreak havoc in the deer yards in the months to come, even if tooth and claw miss their mark. They merely have to run the deer hard, then come back later to claim the carcass.

Hope you are all snug, safe and warm.