Saturday, March 10, 2012

On Tuesday it was nine degrees when I took my morning walk. The cold seemed to seep right through me. During February’s full moon, I thought the deep cold would be done for the winter, but I was mistaken. I walked quickly to protect my face from the cold and wind. I noticed lots of hare tracks. I have noticed there have been some regularly travelled pathways. These were usually straighter and more direct. While the singular tracks took a more meandering approach, I supposed in search of accessible buds and twigs. One animal track I didn’t see much of this winter was deer. I know they are around; I saw three last fall on an early morning walk, they browse down my blueberry bushes and walk through the garden in the summer. Maybe they winter on the other side of the river. From this side the woods look to have more conifers, than what I have on my side.
On Thursday the high temperature was 58. In the morning, I could smell the earth: rich and brown and musky. It was such a wonderful smell to uphold. The river was beginning to break up; ice was jamming where there was shade thus keeping the ice solid all the way across the river. The sound of the waterfall was strong enough for me to hear from my house; --it is maybe a third of a mile away. When I arrived at the falls, the normal narrow flow of water was spread all across the rock ledge.
Today, I took the dog, and we walked to the falls. Again the river was loud, but my footfalls, on crunchy ice were even louder. Almost all of the ice is gone, and the river runs high. The woods only have snow under the shade of trees, on northern sides of hillocks, and where there were drifts. The vernal pools, though still frozen are turning brown and the soil around them warms and the tannic acid from the leaves seeps in to them. Soon they will be clear. Spring is truly coming.

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