Skiing conditions were perfect. The snow was soft and plentiful. I skied through the woods with friends to lunch!
Blue skies even peeked through for a moment.
Adirondacks
Ausable Chasm ice
The temperature is gradually turning warmer but ice abounds. I had heard the ice jams at Ausable Chasm were at their peak. I may have missed it by a few days, but it was still pretty spectacular. There were both frozen and flowing waterfalls.
This is the view from the road. These amazing rock formations were purchased and made private in the late 1800’s, even before the Adirondack Park was formed. It is one of the oldest “attractions” in the United States.
Can you pronounce chasm? I usually mispronounce it and our neighboring town, Schroon Lake. Think school not shroom.
The path home
After a lovely cross country ski in the woods, I returned home.
The chop before the storm
Preparing for a storm is different in the north country. We don’t run out to buy milk or gas. We make sure the snowblower is accessible, the generator starts and the wood is stacked.
I split a stack of poplar the other day and it was a delight. No knotty, gnarled roots. It was very gratifying. It went so well, I decided to video the process. I imagined it would be amusing, in later years, to look back and watch myself, capably, reducing logs to firewood.
Not so much. I was capable, I did split the wood beautifully but I also grunted, breathed audibly and sniffled a lot (the temperature was in the teens). The video remains in my private library.
When I was done splitting wood, I walked down to the river to straighten out my back. The river was frozen in spots but running elsewhere.
There were signs of summer where the snow had melted. A beachball (?) in the culvert
a purple, plastic flower in the grass
and a rings of gold along the road.
Woman’s work
Somewhere this week, perhaps in a medical journal, I read that couples who perform traditional domestic roles at home are happiest. I am very happy. But not traditional.
Yesterday I conquered the remainder of our, phase one, wood pile. This is wood we acquired 2-3 years ago and its time has come to warm the house. I developed a new way to shorten the logs because I was having all sorts of trouble with the chain saw – most importantly, I can’t start it the first time if it’s cold outside.
I split everything but the gnarly, root like pieces of wood, made a pile, then cut them to length with the table saw. Pretty sweet. I filled the wood box, made a nice pile for future use and am ready to attack the next phase of wood, popple (poplar) which splits like buttah. Very rewarding.
My back was a little broken and I wore holes in two pairs of wool gloves. Time to darn them and make a pair of traditional Adirondack buff mittens, the loggers, like me, used to wear.
This photo is from the Adirondack Museum.
I have two knitting projects, one weaving project and a quilt in the works.
I’m working on a pair of bird mittens for a birding enthusiast. I was thrilled when I figured out how to flip the chart to reverse the pattern and to reverse the color scheme of the chart, digitally, with the flick if a switch. I was so clever, I forgot to knit the opposite chart on the second mitten.
I put the mittens aside and started a birthday hat yesterday.
The loom is warped and I’m dazzling myself with an advancing twill.
I have a lot to learn to keep happy.
Mother Nature’s hot flashes
She’s experiencing them now. We’re in the middle of our January Thaw. It’s a well accepted phenomenon at mid-lattitudes, and here in the North Country, that the week surrounding January 25 has higher than expected temperatures. It’s described as a sinusoidal pattern, the curvy line from highs to lows. The swings in the temperature increase during the January thaw to more than 10 degrees above normal. It’s more unusual when it doesn’t happen.
Our weather station reports that yesterday hit a high of 51. And the wind blew all night, with gusts to 37 mph ( which beats all of 2012, with a high wind of 36 mph) the birches swayed, the house creaked, rain fell in buckets, and I was tucked happily inside.
Two days ago, this was my view.
A sweet little cabin in the woods
Today I see this out the window.
I’m pretty sure this will come with a rainbow sometime today because it’s sunny, cloudy and snowing lightly. The temperature is already dropping and is supposed to fall to 7 degrees f by tonight. The good news is six months from now, July 24, is predicted to be the warmest of the year.
City folks just don’t get it
I’ve begun to take rural living for granted. Not much surprises me. I answer the door in my pajamas because I don’t expect visitors. I never think of stealing a car, left running in a parking lot, while the owner shops. I wave to everyone I pass (and they wave back). I love listening to the eerie sound of coyotes howling at night and following all the critter tracks during the day.
We are blessed with awesome neighbors. You never know who you are going to live near and we lucked out. We can’t see one another but we know they’re there if we need them. Too bad there’s not a review site like Yelp or Trip Advisor to find out about your potential neighbors before you move in.
I took a double take the other night though while watching TV. An ad appeared for farmersonly.com, “a dating site for farmers because city folk just don’t get it.” Really? Is dating so much different between city and country folk? I used to work crazy hours but didn’t have a dating site devoted to sleep deprived medical residents. I think the work hours are probably the biggest difference. Here’s a link to one if the commercials on YouTube. I would love to know if this commercial plays in urban/suburban areas too.
As predicted, the weather turned nasty today. It rained, was very windy and most of the beautiful snow melted and turned to mud. I stayed indoors (maybe I got dressed today) and am knitting mittens for a birder friend.
And I measured a warp for my next weaving project, twill placemats.
There is so much order at the outset of a weaving project. Then the fun begins.
Winter woods
Our house surrounded by snow
We received about 4 inches of fresh powder yesterday while I worked. When I woke up I jumped out of bed and put my skis on. Well not exactly. I lounged around the house until 12:30 or so, then clambered outside. I hit a new low today when I accepted a package from the FedEx man in my long johns. My pride thrown out the window in trade for a package.
Skiing was awesome. The woods were quiet and I cut new tracks along the river. Occasionally a pine tree threw a snowball at me and freed its branch when I skied near it.
There were all sorts of treasures in them there hills.
This is the view from the hill in back of the old homestead.
Next off to the little ski area next to my house. It still operates on a quasi-private basis, mostly on the weekends. During the week, it’s all mine.
Rusted abandoned ski tow equipment in the woods
This is the first rusted equipment I found on my journey. It’s right below an abandoned ski lift. Supports still stand on the hill but there aren’t any chairs.
snow cat
This guy never made it up the hill.
The newer equipment still shines. Here’s the gear to get you up the hill. Notice the benches in the bed of the truck? Sweet.
Snow cat people mover
Rusted snow cat in the woods
Still stream in the woods
I’m glad I had a chance to play in the snow today. It’s supposed to be 50 f and raining the next couple of days.
How to avoid cabin fever
Cabin fever comes in two forms: the hyper-energy from staying indoors too long; and the flu, from venturing out in to winter crowds.
We noticed the latter when we went to a concert in Montreal around Christmas. It sounded like a TB ward. Everyone was coughing, sneezing, blowing their noses and unwrapping noisy candy. I shudder to think about it. One thing a moderately isolated life provides is less germs and more health. I’m not exactly a germaphobe – yes, I taught my kids to wash their hands before putting them near their mouths; and yes, I loved the scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm, when Larry David washes his hands to the Happy Birthday song (as recommended by the CDC); and no, I never eat from buffets. OK so perhaps I am a bit of a germaphobe. I like people, I really do, just not as much during the winter. Despite the flu vaccine, the flu is hitting hard and I just don’t feel like getting it.
So I mostly stay in the cabin or venture outside. I avoid movie theaters, or other venues where a bunch of sick people pack themselves in. I do however, work in a hospital one day a week, so I make up for it the rest of my time. Yesterday, we went for a lovely cross country ski tour in the woods around the house to prevent the other sort of cabin fever.
Conditions were perfect. The temperature was in the 20’s and the fresh snow was lovely. Of course I fell on my first little downhill but was mostly fine after that. We saw the work of beavers and coyotes.
It looks like they tried to dam this lovely river without success, or perhaps they had in the past.
We often hear coyotes behind the house, especially at night. We found the remains of one of their dinners in the woods. A well picked deer skeleton and lower jaw.
We capped off the day with a soak in the hot tub when the temperature was about 10 degrees, the air was crisp and the stars were abundant. You don’t catch cold from being outdoors, you catch germs from being inside.
The woolly bear awakens
Remember the woolly bear caterpillar from a few weeks ago?
The last time I checked on him, he was curled into a tight little winter ball. He resides on the stairs to the cellar. A few days ago, he was gone! I thought a strong wind must have blown him off the steps. When I looked beneath the stairs, he was back in caterpillar form. I watched for a while because I thought I detected movement.
He’s a sly one. Yesterday he made a run for the house and I found him on the doormat trying to get in.
Now I know why. It snowed again today.
Island and North Country Life 