And...It's Winter Again, And a New Calf

About two weeks ago I had a post titled signs of spring already. Over this last weekend it snowed Saturday and Sunday and much of the day Monday. We got about 6 inches of wet, heavy snow I would guess. The depth of the snow varied at several places between Rockport and Marblemount. There snow was pretty heavy in Rockport but then lighter on the west side of Marblemount and then got heavier again.

Sunday I had set up with some of the guys with the Marblemount Community Hall to pick up the Christmas tree base which, since December, has been in the parking lot of one of the local businesses whose owner was nice enough to let us set up the tree. I was going to get the tractor and retrieve it. The roads were pretty slick and I was worried about blocking traffic with the tractor on a road that was already kind of dicey. We cancelled until we could get better road conditions.

I decided to go back and get a little more snow time in with Vashti, figuring this might be the last opportunity of the year. We had already built a snowman earlier in the morning before I left for Marblemount and made a couple of snow angels. On the way back I put my pickup in the ditch because I took a corner a little too fast on the reroute at milepost 101 on Highway 20. Fortunately I wasn’t going very fast so I just let go of everything and let the truck ease into the ditch. Then I put it in 4 wheel drive (which I should have done to start with) and drove out of the ditch and on home.

We built another snowman and had lunch. I then headed back up river to do chores and work on the old house at mom’s. Skyeball loved her walk in the snow. The cows were pretty much indifferent or, if anything, a little more crazed to get at the hay because all the old grass that they usually pick away at this time of year was buried in snow.

When I got back home at about dark the lights were out. They were only out on our little stretch of road because of a great big limb out of a big Douglas-fir that had fallen on the lines.

Unfortunately I had neglected to finish the extension cord to hook up the generator to the house circuit. I had also neglected to get a neighbor, who is an electrician to explain exactly how to operate the breakers to power the house without killing the generator or someone who might be working on the line. So we cooked dinner out of a can over a backpacking stove and spent the night in the cold and dark because the house we are renting has a pellet stove and won’t work without electricity. I was kind of harboring some hope that the power would be on by morning but while I was out wiping out the dinner dishes with snow, the snow was falling thick and I could hear the loud reports of branches breaking every minute or so. I figured the power would be out everywhere in the area by morning. It was.

Technology is a kind of funny thing. It allows you to do many things better and more efficiently. But if it is too complicated, it is also vulnerable to failure. This thought struck me many years ago when I was still at mom and dad’s. This was in February also, if I remember correctly. A northeaster was blowing, which often happens there, and the lights were out. The house at that time depended on electricity to operate the cook stove, pump water and heat the house. So there I sat cold and hungry in a screaming windstorm (to top it off, I had a wisdom tooth removed earlier that day as well). At some point during the night I realized that, where my dad was born and lived much of his young life, less than a mile away, they didn’t have power until about 1953. So their house would have been set up without dependence on electricity for water, cooking or heat. If I had been there at that time, forty years before, I would have been warm and comfortable, most likely have a belly full of warm food.

The power came back on Monday evening. Tuesday morning started out clear and cold but by noon it had warmed up so much that the snow water melting off the roofs was coming off in solid streams like there was a downpour only there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

A foot or two of snow isn’t uncommon for February but it usually doesn’t  stick around long this time of year at least not in the valley bottoms. You can feel that the sun’s rays are significantly stronger than in December or January.

As I was laying out the hose to water the cows, I noticed that some of the ornamental lilies by the spigot had begun to sprout and there were holes melted out of the snow around the new growth. This is quite common for some of our earlier plants. I believe that new growth of skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanum) will actually generate heat to melt snow back. I think some high elevation and alpine species do this as well or capture the sun’s heat and reflect it to melt snow.

I think we are well on our way to spring and a lot of the snow was gone by Thursday. It is interesting to note that in certain areas the snow is still several inches deep while in others it is almost completely gone. There was nothing left of the snowmen at the time of this post. I see more in the forecast for the coming weekend but I don't expect it to remain for very long.  

Vashti and the snow men. I guess I should say snow people. The one in front does appear to be wearing a skirt.  

This photo is somewhat of an aside from the post. I saw this while walking Skyeball the dog. Somebody had varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) for dinner. I often see some interesting things while walking Skyeball. This pile of feathers was on a stump near the trail. Varied thrushes are related to robins (we called them Canadian robins when I was a kid) and are one of the first birds you hear calling in the spring. I have been hearing them for several weeks now. They have a kind of funny call, a single notes in a series of three all three notes at a different pitch. As spring and summer progress, these birds stop calling at the lower elevations while still calling at the higher elevations. I don't know if this is because they stop calling at lower elevations or because they migrate upward in elevation. I have seen varied thrushes in the lowlands several months after hearing the last one call for the year. 

 I don't know if the predator was a bird or four legged animal. There is one forlorn foot at the top left of the feathers. I imagine if one knew enough, they might be able to tell what kind of predator left this evidence. Note that there is no snow in the photo. This spot was under several inches of snow just a few days ago. 

The morning of Saturday the 1st of March it was spitting snow pellets and there was a new calf in the field.  Gigi had calved the previous night or early in the morning, in synch with a weather system that was moving in. I have noted that calving coinciding with weather fronts is quite common and I have a hunch it may have increased survival under wild conditions. New calves are pretty tough. This calf is actually sleeping while snow pellets are falling and a strong, cold wind is blowing. 

Sunday morning March 2nd. About 6 inches of snow on the ground with plenty more falling. 

The cows might look miserable but they aren't really. They are adapted to survive much colder weather than this. 

My one concern is the new calf. I don't have a shed to put it and Gigi in to get out of the weather. I think it will be okay, at least I hope so. The weather isn't really that cold, only somewhere around freezing not near or below zero fahrenheit. 

The cows trying to get hay that they didn't eat yesterday. They can get a little bit but the snow greatly hinders their efforts. I give them an extra bale when there is lots of snow on the ground. 

Being part husky, Skyeball is not fazed by the snow. In fact, she loves it. 

The stump where something made a meal of the varied thrush. The feathers are still there under the snow.

Osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis) budding out. It's hard to believe but, if this year is like most years, the snow will quickly disappear and grass and other things will be growing before the end of the month.