Respite

Winter sunset

Despite that ice that still plagues my cabin, I am starting to get the sense that winter’s tightest grip is easing a bit. The first sunny sky in days and the first (if very briefly held) 40° reading on the thermometer were the reasons for that sense. Neither of those will last very long. Yesterday's sunny sky is already overcast, and today’s temperature, while happily above freezing by noon, seems stuck just above that mark so far today.

I am not the only creature in my forest who seems to have noticed the improving weather, however. Last night an opossum appeared, skittering away as quickly as a ’possum can skitter on ice, much to the excitement of Dog. It’s the first one I’ve seen since around Thanksgiving or so. A raccoon, though not Pig, was also out the day before. And this morning I smelled skunk, another first in several months. Yesterday I looked in vain for a circling Turkey Vulture. They winter just to the south of me, and I often see them on the very first day with a warming trend in February. Too soon, I guess.

Still, it’s signs like these that raise my spirits a bit or at least give me even a momentary respite from the ice and cold. I like winter, though when I think about it, my vision of a good winter is one with cold, sunny days and snow on the ground. Fog and gray clouds with ice underfoot is not part of that picture, so my enthusiasm for this year’s winter is less than it usually is. I don’t know that I’m yet to the point of wishing for spring, but I sure won’t mind being able to get out into the woods and walk around again.