Saturday Sharing With Coffee. #4

Happy Saturday everyone! It was a teeny bit cold this morning with a temperature of -38F (-39C) and there is a light wind blowing out there as well. But, the sun is shining in its total brilliance today. That part is very nice. The cold is, well, it is cold. This is definitely coffee weather, so, grab a cup and relax with us. There were loud and very loud bangs, booms and thumps all night long from that cold frost biting away at anything wood. It did wake me up a few times during the night.

When I went out to feed the birds this morning, my first step out the door produced this huge boom which startled me a little. Never had that happen before. Then I went to step onto the bench I use to reach the bird feeder and what a loud bang that was! I nearly jumped right off the bench for that one! I will admit, I did not stay outside very long this morning. But I did hear one flock of ducks flying down to the river for their day of fishing.

First week of January at the river, 2021.

I was a little later than normal so I only heard the one flock today. Usually I hear at least 4 or 5 flocks heading to the river. I know the ducks head down on the lake to sleep at night, but I wonder how far they go. And do they find open water down there or do they sleep on shore? If they sleep on shore, they could do that at the river. But it is a daily schedule for them so I guess they prefer sleeping out on the lake, for whatever reason.

Another beautiful view.

Due to the strong water current between islands there are places that do not freeze in the winter. Just like the river does not freeze for the same reason. Today my pictures are from the river, the first week of January, 2021. There was not much snow that winter, as you can see in the pictures. We did get more snow after these pictures were taken, but that winter the snow depth was only about 12 to 14 inches (30 to 35cm), which is not much at all.

Last year it was closer to 3 to 4 feet (90 to 122cm) average snow depth, quite a difference. Last year we had 10 feet, 4 inches (about 3 meters) of snow for the winter total. So far this winter it is 49 inches (125cm). Our two snowiest months are coming up though. I hope we do not get that much snow this winter, it makes for very high water levels. The river looks so much nicer, calmer and relaxing, when it is at a more normal level.

Hardly looks like winter.

That creates a nice atmosphere of solitude to enjoy. Sitting beside the river in winter on a sunny day, even if it is cold, is just beautiful. Wonderful solitude. It is even nicer when there is not so much snow to walk through to get there. There is a lot of wildlife back there. It would be interesting to walk down to the river at night when the moon is full, just to see what kind of wildlife might be spotted. I keep telling myself that I should try that one night.

Was not quite so cold as this year either.

Getting the right night, however, is the hard part. I would not want it this cold. Plus it needs to be a full moon, or nearly so, kind of night. Easier to see things that way. With all that snow around, a full moon really lights up the forest quite nicely. Taking pictures at night might be tricky. I should do some practicing at home first. Solitude. So much beauty. It must be time to enjoy another cup of coffee. I hope you have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2023 Steve McLeod.