Traces of Warmth

The first few freezing periods this winter made ice on the pond that was thick and clear and little marred by cracks. As the weeks passed, and with thawing periods and more snow and rain, the pond ice got more rotten and hoary. Still plenty thick enough to walk on but now with a rough surface, and spots where the cracks had met and vents formed. The level of the pond varied quite a bit over the season, up and down, and I think the vents formed to equalize water pressure below the ice. The animals seemed to know immediately once ice had formed that they could walk across the surface of the pond, and left tracks from one end to the other.

Donna's winter wonderland. Not shown in this photo is her ice fishing tent.

A curious find was this chunk of animal flesh, which was in the middle of the main trail through the woods and with no other sign around but a line of coyote tracks crossing the trail. It was a large piece, about eight inches by six inches, with stiff fur, and still fresh and flexible when I found it on my early morning walk, despite below-freezing temperatures. Not rabbit. Looked a lot like coyote. So, a mystery.

The smaller warmblooded creatures get out in the snow, but they go underneath, between the blades of grass. The mounds they push up warm and soften in sunlight, and collapse to form a groovy record of their travels. At least, that's what I think is going on.

Take a Morning Walk Through the Soundscape

Put on your headphones and spend the next 30 minutes walking a loop around the farm, through woods and across the creek and along the fences that border the meadows. Crunch through the last of the snow. Listen to birds of all sorts, sounds distant and near. Explore the soundscape through this audio verité field recording.

This is a rather quiet recording, so if there is very much noise in your listening environment, you'll hear the sounds of the farm much better if you wear headphones.


Morning Walk - 27 March 2013 by American Nacre

An Expression of the Season

On February 28 and March 1 we had another substantial snowstorm, and afterward brilliant blue skies and calm winds and dazzling celestial displays in the night. I bundle up and take my walks, frequently stopped in my tracks by the impact of my surroundings: awe and joy at the perfection of form and texture, light and shadow, snatches of birdsong and the silences in between.

The east garden, its row of asparagus and the sweet potato mounds:

Squeaky Tree:

Lobster Tail Trail:

Toward the north fence line and the draws with coyote dens:

Big Bucket Trail:

The ancient hickories at Turkey Holler:

The Gorge:

The Grand Traverse:

Approaching Tire Shrine:

The Ford:

Hidden Meadow:

Across the top of the Trap Range:

 

Below the dam:

Rabbits congregate beneath this maple near the burn barrel:

The bridge-to-be, and across the dam, the pond and the terraced observatory field:

Snow!

We have had several beautiful, substantial snowfalls this winter, only one of which could properly be called a blizzard. The rest have occurred in near calm winds, producing blankets and pillows of downy white. This storm occurred on January 30, and I took my walkabout the following day.

The coyote, rabbit, and deer are the early risers, always leaving their marks before I get out.

The shooting range, a very wet little field that I would like to plant to blueberries. Yes, we use steel shot, not lead, for trap shooting.

Hidden Meadow, one of my favorite views on the property. The juniper in the foreground is a favorite shelter from the weather for coyote and, in the absence of coyote, pheasant and rabbit.

The smaller burrowing creatures, voles and mice, mound the snow as they pass among the underlying grasses, sometimes leaving elaborate branched patterns as they move back and forth.

And down to the creek at the under-construction ford, just upstream of the road culvert and wier.

Stepping stones at the ford, looking upstream.

One of the woodland avatars. It probably has a name, but Donna has not revealed it.

  

Good old Eye Chair.

Adjacent to Squeaky Tree, near the upstream border of the property, with cattle pasture beyond.

The Grand Traverse between Joy Stone and Little Bucket, overlooking The Gorge.