Wildersmith on the Gunflint: November 7

Act two of the Gunflint prelude to winter hit the marquee late last week. It’s not to be unexpected this time of year, but when an early storm hits with the ferocity like this one did, it probably made some folks shudder about possible things to come.                  

The sudden grizzly character of “old man winter” came as bit of a surprise on the night before trick or treat. It blitzed us only a couple short hours, but howled like it was a January rendition.  

In the aftermath only an inch or two or three accumulated in the upper Trail region. By next morning, temperatures had plummeted and the landscape was a white wonderland.           

Scenes from this production left us with reminders of winters past. Travelers had to pull off for lack of visibility and the Trail was glazed in slipperiness. Horizontal snow left everything with a north northwest exposure plastered with the wind-driven crystals while the lee sides were cast in a mosaic of uncovered shadows come daylight.                                                                                                                                          

The area went into a mini deep freeze for a couple mornings with the temp at Wildersmith dropping to ten above by last Saturday morning. Our trip into Grand Marais for church the next morning found many smaller lakes and swamps along the byway had taken on their first skim of ice.                                                                                                                                                                                  

This initial ice on is always a treat for yours truly. While some will probably equate this with watching paint dry, I find the crinkling process of liquid becoming a solid to be an intriguing natural wonder.  

I do not dwell on premonitions as in the case of the latest winter happening, but in thinking back, something might have been in the wind a couple nights prior. On those evenings, I couldn’t help but notice the roar of wind through the trees had a wintertime sound.                          
To me, for some unexplained reason, movement of air in the winter has a more unrestrained resonance than it does at other times of the year. Perhaps the leaves of other seasons buffer the frightfulness of our cold season blasts. While there may be no scientific basis for my thinking, winter wind is what it is, many times unmerciful, and that’s what it was for this first serious wintry revue!  

I was recently informed about a gal out his way who’s had north land flower arrangements on her table in every month since last March (probably some early southern exposure Daffodils), with the last blooms being harvested just prior to the collapse of autumn last week. I’m told all such blossom gatherings were of the outdoor variety, not hot house pansies.  

Yes that’s March into October, eight months! I’m not aware of what this lady’s last flower cutting was, but happening in late month ten, goes to show that not only are we residents hardy, but so are many of the natural beings that bloom around us. 

The customary birds of winter are gathering in mass around this neighborhood in hope easy seeds will suddenly appear. I have yet to open the seed barrel for fear of attracting a hungry sloth onto the deck.

In all likelihood, the “Brunos” may be holing up as I write. Perhaps by this time next week, I’ll feel secure in opening the avian feed bag for the anxious “tweeters.”                                                                                

Some of the earliest winged returnees were a pair of “Whiskey Jacks” (Canadian Jays).This sociable couple are a welcome sight after being AWOL from Wildersmith all of last winter.                                                                                                                                                                          
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Keep on hangin’ on, and savor the north woods spirit of our “freezing over” moon!