JANUARY'S LAST DAY

It's the last day of January and to complement the day we experienced a nice January thaw.  Temperatures near 40 degrees, with bits of blue sky and sunshine this afternoon, made it grand, and a remarkable sunset with pinks, oranges, and purples, topped it off.

A Wisconsin January thaw, back in the old days, was both welcome and necessary for one's sanity.  Years ago when wintertime was harsh, often filled with Alberta Clippers, three foot snowfalls, and the need to put charcoal under the car engine to get it started, a January thaw was great medicine for cabin fever.   It also gave us hope for spring.  Today we kind of take January thaws for granted. 

On a short walk this afternoon across Tom's Creek, and over wintergreen hill, I observed four gray squirrels chasing each other up and down the towering aspen and maple trees.  I think they were in the nesting notion.   A few insects were out and about; one that reminds me of a large sluggish mosquito, and snow fleas, springing about atop the melting snow, in their glory.

I could hear water trickling under areas of shallow ice as it wiggled its way down the creek.  I noticed my own melted tracks on the creek bed from yesterday's walk.  Two weeks ago this same path was filled with timber wolf tracks, one week ago deer tracks, and this weekend, just my own.   The turquoise blue sky reflected its colors onto the new standing water atop the creek ice.

There are only two days until the ground hog reveals to us his weather prediction, but either way he'll be causing us to start thinking and talking about spring.  I think we'll make it through the winter!

JANUARY WOLF KILL

The snow has settled down to a depth of four or five inches so walking in the woods today is easier than it was a few weeks ago.  At 28 degrees this afternoon, it feels like a heat wave.  I've picked this spot on the bank of Tom's Creek to sit and write in my journal today, as just a few yards to my right, lying on the ice in the middle of the creek bed, are bones that tell a story.

One week ago today as I walked to the creek crossing, covering my cheeks with my mittens every few seconds to stop the sting from the midday sub-zero temperatures, I noticed something out of place just a few yards downstream, tucked up along the bank.  A young doe, dead and stiff, laid there with it's hind legs parted, chewed open from the neck on down to the hind quarters.

Crow tracks peppered the snow everywhere around the area for many yards distant, and as I looked closer I noticed fox tracks.   I quickly snapped some photos to show my hubby and headed back down the trail, mittening back up my frozen fingers.  On the same path that I had already walked on to get to the creek, I spotted a large wolf track that I had overlooked on the way there.

The next day I came back to the kill site and the deer carcass was gone.  All that remained near the spot where I found it was the stomach, but wolf tracks were everywhere up and down the frozen creek bed on the light skiff of snow.  The creek banks were dotted at random with sprayed areas of yellow snow in both directions, wolves marking their territory.  It was clear that a pack of wolves had returned the night after the kill to finish eating their prey together.

Today I don't see any new wolf tracks in this area, only fresh deer tracks instead.  If I hadn't noticed the dead deer last Sunday, I might not have seen the few remnants left behind today. There's a light wind blowing and gray clouds cover the sky.

The woods is silent other than a few blue jays singing far to the south as I sit here and ponder about wolves and the love/hate relationship people have for them today.  I, myself, feel neither love nor hate for wolves.  I just know they are here and will probably be around for some time to come.  It's a different time here in central Wisconsin than forty years ago when I was young.  Life and nature keep changing and in many ways, to me, that makes the world we live in more interesting!

Wolf tracks on Tom's Creek, now a frozen highway for wildlife, as creek beds often are this time of year

FIVE JANUARY CROWS

I'm sitting on a small pile of brush, leaning against an oak tree along Todd Road, with the north wind blowing in my face.  This is the only dry spot I could find to park myself today.  It's 28 degrees, somewhat of a mild spell, and what I perceived to be a good chance to journal out of doors on this mid January day.  Faint peaks of blue are jutting out between the puffy gray overcast sky that has dominated so many of our short and dark winter days lately.

When I first came to this spot I caught a glimpse of five crows soaring high up in the sky, flying swiftly to the east and cawing loudly to one another.  In a short time they disappeared into the tree lined horizon.  Perhaps the crows symbolized the five critters that I noticed had walked across my path down Todd Road before I came along.  One of them colored the snow yellow!

Whitetail Deer

Rabbit

Red Fox

Partridge

... and Timber Wolves Marking Their Territory

 
Admittedly I'm freezing as I push this pencil around with my bulky gloves on.  My "Eskimo like" attire is failing me despite the balmy temperatures.  The chill of the wind and the dampness in the air is passing right through.  Time to head back home and settle in at the cabin where it's warm and cozy before the nocturnal wolves step back out to pee again.

PUT THE BRAKES ON!

It's a mild January day, in fact we're having a good old January thaw.  I had almost forgotten the excitement that a January thaw used to give me because this winter has had so many days with temperatures above freezing.  It's 33 degrees right now and the snow is packing.  I need to remind myself to appreciate such a warm day like today and put the brakes on!

Winter can bring dark and gloomy days to Wisconsin but those gray, cold days give us the opportunity to reflect on forgotten indoor projects and think about what to plant in our gardens next spring.  Winter is a good time to slow down a bit, like nature itself, and enjoy a little down time.

Although I haven't seen much wildlife activity in our woods lately, the nocturnal deer have been leaving their tracks everywhere on our driveway and in our woods.

Mourning doves roost in the treetops near the pond, landing by the open water from our aerator to catch a drink, especially at down and dusk.  Their calm and quiet whistling sounds are music to my ears as they gently glide through the air.

As I stand under a jack pine along Tom's creek and scratch these words in my journal, I find delight in the sound of the trickling water flowing gently downstream.  There are still openings in the ice allowing the critters to come by for a drink and me to hear the beautiful sounds of the moving water loud and clear.

Today a young deer visited this spot in the creek before I did...

and she put the brakes on too!