Wednesday, Remi and I ventured 16 miles west of Alma to the small village of Cedar Lake to hike a section of the Meijer Heartland Trail. The early morning weather was partly sunny with temperature of 23 degrees and a light, variable wind from the north. We left the car and headed due west where a couple inches of fluffy overnight snow covered the trail while some of it decorated cattail seed heads as well as Old Man’s Beard's seeds. Further along, I spotted some leafless Tag Alder bushes with their cone-like female catkins and caterpillar-like male catkins. While a few Mourning Doves flew overhead, some Chickadees fluttered through the underbrush. Continuing west, the trail passed through wetlands that included ice-covered puddles and narrow streams that contained green duckweed, a portent of spring. Next, I paused to enjoy the sights and soothing sounds of one of these streams. Overhead, I noticed the naked branches of a Tamarack tree that unlike most conifers, drops its needles in the winter and grows new ones in the spring. After turning around and welcoming a warming sun, I paused to admire the surrounding wooded landscape. Continuing east toward the car, I could barely make out a network of subnivian tunnels made by small mammals including shrews and voles. Finally, we continued east to the car and took off for home.
Depths of winter
Hidden by snow
A racing pulse
Runs to and fro
Mouse is caught
Venom is spread
Minute or two
Cold and dead
Tunnel creature
Consumes its prey
Short-tailed shrew
Lives another day
D. DeGraaf
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