Deep Snow, Punishing Cold
And life goes on...
It’s been hard to get to Cedar Bluffs with all the snow. My old truck has one-wheel drive, and sometimes I think I could get it high-centered on an ice cube. The rock roads were snow-packed, then icy slick, and with the slightly warmer weather, they will soon be as slimy as gravy. I’ll try to get out as soon as I can.
Back in the day when I was a kid and we had lots of snow, Dad would always say, “The snow’s ass deep to a tall Swede!’
I miss him.
The below-zero weather also kept me away. While I could bundle up and make it on my own just fine, I didn’t want to take Violet the Dog out into such terrible weather, as I was worried about her and her feet in the severe cold.
We managed to make it out on Monday but didn’t get very far. Drifts on the paths were three feet deep, and the snow was hard enough that I couldn’t just shuffle through it. I had to pick up my feet and force my leg down into the snow with every step. It was tough going.
Violet the Dog was struggling with snow up to her head, but I thought she would figure it out and follow me.
When I got near the top of the hill and looked back for her, she was back sitting by the truck waiting for me to come back. Apparently, she is smarter than I am and wanted to head for home, so we did. We’ll be back as soon as we can and get back into our routine of walking every day.
I recently put up a bird feeder, and Annie and the kids got me a pair of Blink cameras for Christmas. I’ve been taking some photos at the feeder with my phone, including the Blue Jay above. Here are some more below:
My camera kept catching the rabbit above, and I managed to get this shot during the daytime. Annie said we should name the rabbit Fred, so we did.
After seeing Fred on the Blink camera dozens of times, it turned out that Fred has a friend, as can be seen above.
On December 15 I shot the above video that I haven’t shared yet. I was in the parking lot at Cedar Creek by the truck, admiring the sparrows and Juncos and more, and I decided to shoot in slow motion. It was the first, and the last time I have shot in slow motion.
About 18 seconds in, some kind of hawk swoops in from behind me and attacks the little birds! It’s amazing. And then shortly later, either a Blue Jay or a Cardinal comes in from the upper left to attack the hawk. Pretty cool.
One day when there was a little snow, I followed the tracks of another person and a kid. I presume the kid drew this heart and other hearts I found with his walking stick.
After they were done walking, the kid kindly curated his or her walking stick at the entrance so some other kid could use it in the future.
We found the above Turkey tracks.
And above is a bird that hopped, skipped, and jumped into flight!
I look forward to getting back into the timber every day soon. I need it for my physical and mental health. And for my soul.
If you enjoy Cedar Creek Nature Notes, I encourage you to subscribe to my friend Larry Stone’s “Listening to the Land.” It’s fantastic. Larry has forgotten more than I will ever know about our outdoor world.
For another glimpse of the wonders of the Iowa outdoors, Diane Porter’s My Gaia is another Substack I enjoy. It’s full of observations on nature and is ripe with wisdom.
And don’t miss Al Batt’s Substack at Al’s Substack. Al Batt of Hartland, Minnesota is a writer, speaker, storyteller, and humorist. Al writes humor and nature columns for many newspapers and does regular radio shows about nature. He writes several popular cartoon strips that are syndicated nationally and is the author of the book, "A Life Gone to the Birds." He is a columnist for "Bird Watcher’s Digest" and “Watching Backyard Birds,” and writes for several magazines and books.
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I marveled at the juncos that were constantly at my feeders during the snow storm! It was so cold and windy but they persisted. I always hate seeing blue jays in my trees because I feel like they bully the smaller birds, but I never thought about how they may serve as a protector, too!
Thanks especially for today's post. I now live in a safe, warm, well-equipped townhouse. I miss nature, even if I rarely went very far on walks. I have only seen 4 birds since I've been here. Thought I saw a cardinal, but it turned out to be a reddish leave. So I took a picture of some kind of weed that has pods which, to my indoor mind, remind me of birds. I await the spring.