December 21

Saturday was a good day at Forest Hill for a hike with my dog, Remi. Today, being the winter solstice, I paused to face the sun as it was shrouded by clouds and recognize that it had reached the end of its descent into the southern hemisphere. The mid-day weather was foggy, misty with a temperature of 28 degrees and a light wind out of the northeast. Standing at the crest of the hill facing west, I was surrounded by a landscape of ice-coated vegetation from the freezing mist. I proceeded down the hill to Mallard Marsh noisily breaking through a thick crust of ice on top of about five inches of snow. Continuing through Bobolink Meadow, I spotted the first of many dark specks on the trail that turned out to be alive. This one was a Soldier Beetle larva that was slowly crawling over the snow. Also, I noticed a patch of fresh blood and entrails where a rabbit had been eaten by a predator. Near the entrance to North Woods, I leaned over to see a Winter Crane Fly resting on the snow. I turned south and headed toward Willow Wallow where I saw another speck on the snow that turned out to be Snow Scorpion Fly or Snow Flea. Turning west at the pond, I entered Succession Field where I spotted a newly dug entrance to a snow tunnel made by a rabbit. Also, I found a tiny Pirate Spider on the ground. Looking south across the field, I marveled at the silhouettes of ice-covered Birch trees on the edge of South Woods. I circled around the field where ice formed jewel-like clusters on Dogwood branches. Also, I saw a Heleomyzid Fly on the snow. Next, I came to Artist Overlook where I paused to observe Sora Swale. Continuing along south trail, I was again surprised to see an ant and some kind of caterpillar crawling on the snow. I turned north at Frog Fen and climbed to the top of Reflection Hill where I gazed down on Grebe Pond. I descended the hill and arrived at the Classroom Building to check out the bird feeders. Among the usual visitors was a colorful Purple Finch. Up in a tree next to the feeders sat a Mourning Dove waiting for me to go away so it could fly down to eat. Finally, I walked gingerly on the icy parking lot to the car and headed home.

Late in December

I now remember

Sun shines low

Bouncing off snow

Shadows are long

Wind blows strong

Trees undressed

Nature at rest

No time to fritter

Solstice of winter

D. DeGraaf