In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
This is the first verse of a well known poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti. It is evocative and beautiful. However, I’m not sure we can say December in Ontario is in reality “mid-winter”; and neither am I sure December isn’t more beautiful than bleak. For me the frozen millpond, broad expanses of snow and the crystalline quality of winter air are all things of beauty that call to us to experience and explore.
A local farmer who has been supplementing his farm income by clearing snow for the past 17 years tells me that the heavy snowfall this year came two days earlier than the early snow last year. I measured 10cm in my backyard on November 7 and another 14cm on the 12th. Some of the trees and shrubs which hold their leaves late looked very odd in the snow. But the world was a brighter, cleaner place. And the trails were places of magic and delight.
Now that all the trees have lost their leaves you really notice each tree’s shape, its pattern of branches, and the texture and colour of the bark. The snow seems only to highlight the shape and substance of each tree. The conifers, our beautiful pine, spruce, fir and hemlock especially stand out in the snow.
The snow also has the marvellous ability of making everything quieter; and it seems to cause smells to become more noticeable. Perhaps this heightening of the sense of smell is connected to the muffling of sound. I hadn’t thought of that before.
A few nights ago I heard something from outside that caused me to go out into my backyard. I stood in the dark listening to a Great Horned Owl hooting. It was a wonderful and eerie sound in the dark stillness. Lonely sounding too. To think how these birds have evolved to hunt in the dark is marvellous.
Our changing winters with freezing and thawing along with the snow or rain mean that many trails can be very slippery. Built structures such as boardwalks and bridges can be very treacherous. The new bridge over the millpond’s dam is often icy and I’m glad to see a warning sign on it now.
This area’s ground water, with aquifers and artesian wells, I find endlessly fascinating. I wish my house didn’t need sump pumps, but hearing them running always makes me think of the water beneath. And the idea that ground water is like the body’s blood stream always comes to mind. Over in Medd’s Mountain Park there has always been a small “seep” that bubbled up with water summer and winter. Interestingly and oddly it has now grown and water flows down the slope to the millpond. The ground therefore is soft or when frozen slippery.
The year 2019, with its politics and the increasingly fragile state of the natural world, has caused in me a great sense of anxiety. Getting out and being in nature has luckily provided me with a palpable sense of peace and healing. I hope and pray that 2020 offers us all peace and healing. Nature is our most precious inheritance and we must protect it and pass it on to future generations.
Merry Christmas to everyone. So whether it really is mid-winter, or whether to you it is bleak or beautiful, get out! And enjoy!
Get Out! by Glen Spurrell
