Early (Wimpy) Winter

Up until about ten days ago, I thought we might not have a real winter. It looked like we would have some cold, and LOTS of ice, but not much snow. When the temperatures were unseasonably warm, we had lots of rain and, then, when the temperatures dropped, everything was coated in ice. Normally in winter, the river ice is white. This winter, though, we had had so much rain that the ice on the river looked smooth and clear.

One day, I even saw an eagle fishing through the broken ice.

The JayBee had ice formations s l o w l y sliding off the roof.

When the outside world is this coated in ice...

...I can feel miserable and housebound pretty quickly. Luckily, I have crampons to wear outside so I can still get around. The ice didn't slow the cats down much.

Then, snow fell, and the world was white again.

Sunny days quickly melted the snow on the hillside that faces south.

But the snow revealed that what I think of as quiet winter existence really is a world full of activity.

Cat tracks, of course.

Deer tracks and fox tracks.

A bounding hare's tracks.

Lots of turkey tracks.

And, then, lots of turkeys.