January thaw

The fish that would normally be in semi-hibernation are swimming around in the pond. The two feet of snowdrifts that covered the pond, the garden and much of the pasture and surrounding fields four days ago, is running into the Beaver River.

Walking the dogs this morning after the rain I saw a snail on the pathway. Thinking that it was an empty shell with the molusc inside eaten by moles, I turned it over. I was completely surprised to see it quickly pull its "foot" back into the shell. On our return back to the house, I saw it had travelled about five or six inches along the pathway. Goodness, not only alive but out getting breakfast - a spring undertaking surely.

The grass is almost flourescent green. The lilac buds are fat and similarly green.

Four days is all it took to melt all away with temperatures well above zero Celsius - reaching as high as 12 yesterday.

Not healthy I'm thinking.

Partly induced by climate change - all this untimely weather - it makes me worry about what's next. We certainly lost our apple crop because of unseasonable frost after an early spring last year. What will this year bring? Do others wonder too? Do they care?

I love winter, snow, cold and all the wonderful things to do outdoors. The dogs love it. The cats not so much. But a winter with snowy mornings, frosty windows, warm chuckling fires in the wood stove -all to be enjoyed.

This wet fake spring, brief though it will be, is not good. I want to rant about climate change. About how humans don't pay attention. That we're a dreadful species, uncaring as a whole, though there are individuals and small groups that are more attentive to what's happening with our climate. But today I won't rant more than this. I'll show you the photos instead of what I see when I stand on my deck and look at the landscape. You may want to share them to remind others about what we're doing to this planet. It's peculiar.

Yes the drops of rain are strung like glistening beads along tiny tree branches. Beautiful. The mists that hide the other side of the valley are beautiful as well. But this belongs to spring with returning birds, buds waxing on the tiny branches, sprouting plants and grasses. Not mid-January. For today that's my rant.

Whatever the weather, wherever you are - may you enjoy it as I did finding that tiny snail. There is beauty everywhere if we pay attention. We are blessed even in our destructiveness.

A puzzle

This morning we were walking in the very wet snow - it's quite mushy but the pathways on the property are still pretty solid. At the north end, both dogs suddenly stepped off the path and into the deep snow.

This (right) is what they saw. Can you figure it out?

I looked at it for quite a bit of time until I too finally stepped off the path to see better. It's a pile of snail shells with a deep, brownish hole in the middle. I realized that someone has been cleaning house.

A mole must live here. It's finally gotten tired of eating snails for breakfast, lunch and dinner and decided to throw out the garbage. The solitary snail on the left still had it's foot, so I assumed it was still alive and tossed it back down the hole. It might have a better chance of getting away through the grass below seeing as it's so mild, than being left on the surface of the snow.

I had to check on the internet to see if moles eat snails... and apparently they do as do frogs, snakes, foxes and raccoons. So do people, but I'm not sure we eat garden snails. I don't think I'd want to.

The tracks from all kinds of tiny creatures were really evident last night when we toddled (or rather I toddled and the dogs walked or ran) around the trail for the last walk of the day. Lots of tiny bird prints and many many deer mince. Several mole trails too, like you see in your gardens in spring - just under the surface of the snow though rather than the mud - long tunnels, curving and twisting from one set of dried flower stalks to a small red pine and then on. I'm only hoping all these little guys don't girdle the seedlings in the field. I guess wire is in order around them if it's going to stay warm for a day or two.

Hope you've had a good day so far and enjoyed as many meals this holiday season as our mole friend obviously has. Time for you to clean house before the new year?