A few stray snowflakes fell this morning so not enough new snow for ski lovers and even though there has been a few colder days, open water still exists in front of the ice caves on Lake Superior so no strolling by the frozen world this year yet.
Strolling by the Frozen Caves
A sunny winter morning can look pretty after a new snowfall or frost formation, but normally by the time it warms up enough to venture outside, the wind has blown the snow off the trees and this morning it looks like it is snowing again with snow coming off the tree limbs.
Winter Morning
A new coat of snow covered the ground during the night temporarily covering most of the critter tracks.
New Snow Coating
Although a cooler morning than yesterday, the snow overnight missed this area and a hazy sun is out on this Sunday morning. (Last year on January 25th when this picture was taken, the sun was out brighter but the wind was blowing strong and causing drifts to form on the road.)
The Marsh Lake Cemetery surrounds the Bethany Church but the lack of footprints leading to the door suggests that the church is no longer used on a regular basis, especially in the winter time.
Church Forgotten in the Winter
The warmer temperature the past week has felt nice after a cold December, but hardy winter lovers may not be as thrilled as the snow pack is shrinking. The ice layer on Lake Superior by the ice caves has also disappeared even though there was ice last week when the park rangers were out on the ice monitoring the thickness but last weekend’s winds blew and took the ice away. So now there is open water by the caves where last season 138,000 people walked on the ice to view the ice formations.
Admiring the Ice Formations
From the look on this kitten’s face, I don’t think he is overly happy about setting his paws on the cold snow and I hate to tell him that he will have to for a few more months.
Frosty Kitten
In some churches, such as the Anglican, Lutheran and Catholic churches, today is the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. The pictures often show them standing in water during the baptism but it would be an extremely short service and a definitely a chilly one if it occurred in January in Wisconsin. And a baptism by immersion would definitely take your breath away, assuming you find a river with open water.
A Chilly January Stream
It seems like when the temperature finally gets above zero, then it snows like this morning. And the wind is blowing the snow sideways as well as making it hard for the birds to land on the feeders except for the feeder which the gray squirrel as commandeered (who is now a white squirrel with all the snow gathering on his back since he has been squatting for a while as I gave up chasing him off after the fourteen time).
But since it still below freezing, the bears should at least be hibernating yet so maybe the birds will be able to use this feeder since the squirrel hasn’t climbed the pole yet. This feeder disappeared last spring when the bear broke the pole and ran off with the feeder. It took a while before I found it behind a brush pile in the woods and the bear must have eaten a lot of seeds that day since he left some big brown piles on my lawn!
Snowy Bird Cafe
Now that the Twelve Days of Christmas is over, I am ready for spring! The moon was out bright last night and would have been a perfect night to go walking except for one tiny fact that the wind chill was in the warning range and frost bite could occur in less than ten minutes. And I figured with my luck, I would trip on a limb under the snow and would freeze to death taking a walk through the woods. But then it isn’t much better walking in the cold sunshine as the temperatures haven’t improved much. There are some critters tracks in the snow but I won’t be adding my tracks today through the woods.
Update : Just after the sun set this evening, three deer came walking up through the trees in this area. They were bouncing and running around so I they don’t mind the cold as much as I do.
Cold Sunshine Walk
“On the Twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve Drummers Drumming.” Twelve drummers banging on drums inside my house would be too much of a racket, as even one would be too noisy. It wouldn’t be a sound which would attract me to my true love, even though a tom turkey will drum in the spring to attract hens. He will drum a two note “pffffft, duuuuuuuummmmmm” forced deep from his chest either softly or loudly depending on the location of the hens. On another very chilly morning, the gobbler won’t be drumming for girls for springtime romance but could be calling the hens to see if they knitted a sweater for him. A present of twelve turkey drummers does have an advantage over a gift of twelve musicians since you could shoot the turkey and have a drumstick!
Twelve Turkeys Drumming
