Will doesn't mind no snow
Bare ground at the golf course
Checking out the rebuilt stone wall
Will watches Emma, wondering what keeps her amused
This has been such an unusual winter in the northeast, as in other parts of the country, and the world. For us, we have had only a few inches of snow this year, that has melted within a day or two. The normal amount falls closer to 11 or `12 inches for the months of January and February. I am not complaining! As much as I love snow, I am enjoying our outdoor time this year without it. Last year was a bit much, with record amounts of snow here (about 110 inches total), roofs caving in, ice dams causing flood damage, and just no end of winter. But this year, we're enjoying lots of sunshine, warm temperatures and little snow or rain.
At least it's been cold enough for the ground to be frozen, and easy to walk on. I've even been noticing the earth cracking and drying out with the lack of snow and moisture. I'm afraid for the farmers this year with such little precipitation. It probably means that prices will be higher for lots of our produce and other crops. I would guess it'll be higher prices for gas, too, since it's made with ethanol, which is made from corn, which will be more expensive if the crops are in shortage this year. Will it never end?
Will at the first tee at Simsbury Farms, waiting for Emma to run and play with him
Time to run in the open spaces
Tug-of-war with the frisbee, a favorite pastime.
Will
EmmaFinally, the golf season is at an end (or almost). There is still no snow in Connecticut, but the ground is frozen and the golfers have disappeared from the Simsbury Farms Golf Course. We have been waiting for this day! This is the first week we've been able to go back for our walk around the course, and we are loving it! It's so open, and wonderful to have the space to ourselves, or mostly. There are periodically other dog walkers from the area, and the sounds of the paddle tennis players in the courts alongside the course, but it's wide open for the dogs to run and chase the frisbee.
It is hunting season in Connecticut right now, and we've been trying to avoid the woods at Tulmeadow Farm where we usually enjoy our twice daily walks. They are really out hunting, with either their bow and arrows or their rifles. We usually put the orange vests on the dogs, in hopes that will bring attention to them, but we've been 'scolded' by a hunter for letting the dogs run loose in the woods, because they scare the deer away. I had a long chat with one of the hunters, asking him when are they likely to be in the woods, so we knew when to avoid. He told me they are there mainly a couple of hours after dawn, and a couple hours before sunset, so we tried to walk in the middle of the day. Well, last time I did that, there was a hunter in the woods, and it was 1 pm in the afternoon! So we decided to avoid it altogether during the week. We are free to walk there Sunday, since that is a day that they don't hunt. I guess they take that biblical idea of the 'day of rest' seriously.
Last Sunday, we took advantage of the freedom from gunfire, and took the chainsaw into the woods to clear the trail a bit. On October 30, there was a wicked freak snowstorm in Connecticut, which dumped 13 inches of heavy, wet snow in our area. It fell on the large oaks and other trees, that still were bearing leaves, and it was too much for the trees to handle. The devastation and damage to the tall oaks was unbelievable. Power was out for more than a week, tree crews were here cutting dangerous limbs, and it took Jim and I about 10 days to cut and clear all the fallen branches from out property alone. We had planned to help the Land Trust to clear the trail so it's walkable again, and this was the first chance we had to do that. We can now pass through the trail, and stick to the path. There are still lots of broken limbs dangling from tall tree tops, but we can't get to them to cut them down. Even on our own property, we are hiring someone to do that, since they need to climb the 100 foot tall trees to get to the limbs. The devastation was the worst sight that I've ever seen in terms of damage from a winter storm. It took the FEMA funded trucks about 3 weeks to go through the town just picking up the branches and tree debris from curbside. It's clear now, ready for a real winter snow storm!
So needless to say, we are very happy that the golf course is available now, since hunting season goes until the end of December and we know they won't be on the golf course!
Even though our temperatures are still below normal for this time of year, we are finally getting to feel like spring is near. The snow at Simsbury Farms is almost all melted, and I've actually seen some daffodil leaves poking their heads above ground over there. At our house, though, some of my gardens are still covered in piles of snow, but where they are bare, I see the tips of some of the hardy plants still showing. The buds are expanding on the trees, too. The willows are turning a yellow color, the Bradford pear buds are plump and some of the flowering shrubs are glowing red, to let us know that they are getting ready for the spring too. My rhododendrons, which have been fighting the cold air all winter by curling their leaves back into themselves, are looking a lot better too. Although this morning was another cold one (about 25 degrees F) and their leaves are curled again. Plants and people will be happier when the warmer weather gets here.
But the dogs, well, they don't mind the cold at all. They seem to prefer it to the hot humid days of summer. But there are lots of times in between, too, that they love, with the more moderate temperatures of spring and fall. Just like in life, we need a good balance. It would be hard to imagine living in a mono-climate, all winter or all summer. The annual cycle we live in, especially in the northeast, gives time to experience different aspects of life, at times more introspective like when we 'hibernate' in the frigid winter months. And then it is balanced by the more outward summer months, when we want to be outdoors more, either in our gardens, walking, biking, traveling or just sitting on the deck enjoying a warm evening.
Thank goodness for change in life, and for the annual cycle of things. It works best for all of us. Too much of one thing, and no one wins.
View from our deck, still lots of snow under the trees on the hillside
Spring has sprung at the Simsbury Farms, a golf course built on an old apple orchard
The big tease - Will sits with the frisbee in the background, while Emma is preparing for the chase (step 1 of 'the frisbee dance')
The Frisbee dance
More of the frisbee dance
Emma stalks Will who is guarding the frisbeeWith all this snow and ice that we've been having, we are all getting to feel a little housebound. I think you might call it a major case of cabin fever. The snow just keeps coming, and we are trying to figure out a way for all of us to get some fresh air and exercise. These two border collies are just not used to staying inside and being inactive like we've been doing. It's all we can do to get out for a daily walk, let alone a good romp twice a day, like our usual routine. So we thought we would get our skis out again and try the golf course on the bright and sunny afternoon we had a couple of days ago. Just to note, today we are not having such good weather, once again. It is freezing rain outside right now, as it has been all afternoon. What a mess that will make!
So the other day we strapped on our skis and took off over the hills at the golf course, our favorite winter place. It was the day after a two day stint of snow and sleet and freezing rain, so you can only imagine what we encountered. Yes, it was a nice six inch layer of fresh snow, covered by an inch of almost solid ice! Well, we forgot to put new wax on our skis, and as a result, we just skidded around the top of the icy snow. Of course, Jim led the way and broke through as well as he could, and I got to follow in his tracks. Will did his best to follow in the tracks too, but Emma, being the little explorer today, did her best to walk on top of the snow. it was hilarious watching her - she would step as gingerly as she could, but then her back legs would crash through, and she'd almost get stuck in the deep snow. She'd pull herself out, and keep going until she broke through again. It was tough, but she's a real trooper! She got herself trapped behind the safety net on the driving range and really had a tough time getting through the deep snow to get back around the net. It was all we could do to watch and wait for her - even Will just laid there spotting her wondering just what she was up to! She was getting a little worried that she would never make her way around the long netting, and tired of the struggle, too, but she finally made it.
It is somewhere around two and a half or three feet of snow built up on the ground now, so you can only imagine how difficult it would be to walk in. If the snow hadn't been so icy, it would have been quite a nice ski. We did a bit of a circuit around the course, but were all happy to get back to the car. Even Will and Emma were tired out.
We have had record snowfalls here in the Hartford area this month. We have had the biggest one day total and the most snow in the month of January since records have been kept. That is, we've had a total of 45 inches so far in January, and the average is only 12 inches! And we're supposed to have another 12 inches on Wednesday. Everyone was out this weekend shoveling or raking the snow off their roof, and breaking off the giant icicles that have formed from all the warming and cooling. Some houses have icicles almost down to the ground! I'd hate to be under that if it ever fell. There have been reports of roof collapse around the state, and everyone is hoping to avoid that disaster. Another foot of snow piled on what we already have on the roof is a disaster waiting to happen.
The dogs are enjoying the snow, but it's hard for them to move around in it. They try to walk in the yard and one step into it, they are up to their armpits (or is it leg pits?) in snow. Will tries to run across it, but then sinks and can hardly move along in it. We've tried the golf course, but didn't get very far and decided to play in one place with the frisbee. We've tried our trail through the woods to Tulmeadow Farm, but that was grueling for all of us, dogs included. We dug out our cross country skis last weekend, which haven't seen the light of day in about ten years, I would say, and that worked very nicely. It took us awhile to clean off the dust and grime and old wax, but we got them ready with new wax and off we went to Simsbury Farms golf course. It was the perfect thing to do with the dogs. They ran and played, and we got around much better than if we were trying to walk on the icy snow-covered links. It was quite pleasant, with the rolling hills, and we weren't too sore afterwards. We will definitely do it again. The dogs were really good staying away from the skis. At one point, they got in the tracks behind the skis and kept up on the packed snow. It didn't take long for them to figure out the easy way to get around!
Frisbee is good at any time of year
Frisbee is good for tug of war
Frisbee is good for distracting Will for unsuspecting leaps by Emma
Will watches while Jim clears the deck - so much snow!Morning walk at Simsbury Farms
We thought we would take another morning walk at Simsbury Farms, before the snowstorm happens later today. The weather guys are warning of a storm starting about noon today, and guess what? Dozens of schools in the state have announced either early closing or all day closing, before the snow has even begun! I guess it does avoid problems at rush hour, and worry for parents about what to do with the kids if schools close early, but it's a common occurrence here to be proactive. Better to be safe than sorry, is the mandate.
We followed our usual path today around the golf course. Straight out from the club house as far as you could go, then to the right, which leads down one hill and then up another one leading towards my favorite white oak tree that stands tall at the top of the hill. The melting snow over the last week has lined the cool side of the hills with ice, hiding under that thin layer of snow that fell a couple of days ago. My foot hit that hidden ice and I ended up flat on my back with a thump after flinging up into the air! I'm sure I'll have a bruise from that one. Emma was the one to come and check on me. She's always the most concerned whenever something happens out of the ordinary. Even something as simple as a sneeze, she's right there wondering what is wrong. Maybe it's a female thing, to worry, to be concerned.
Emma really enjoyed digging today in what snow was left from the last storm. She was determined to find out what was hiding under there. Will was curious, but as usual, just let Emma do what she would do, and lay there watching while she dug away. It's funny to watch him watching her. All he wanted was to get back to playing frisbee!
Dig, dig, dig!
There's something down there!
Shake, Shake, Shake!
Will watches while Emma digs
Foggy morning walk at Simsbury Farms
We couldn't resist going to one of our favorite places for a morning walk on the first Sunday of 2011. It was warm which brought with it a lot of melting snow and fog in the air. It was easy to walk the links with the snow melting a bit, and fun to throw the frisbee for Will and Emma. They love this place as much as we do. Here's just a few photos to show you what it was like with all the fog and the frisbee, and a stone wall to jump over too.
My favorite white oak
Will on the lookout for Emma
Will
Twistin' and Turnin'
Emma is sure there's something under there!
Little Emma
Birch tree
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This is our mailbox and newspaper box buried in snow
My favorite birch tree at Simsbury Farms
Foggy walk on the golf course
