THEY WARNED US the coming storm would be bad in our area of Austerlitz and I believed them. The house was stocked with essentials like milk and eggs, jugs of drinking water, cat food, and a working generator with lots of fuel. The tank was full of fuel oil for the furnace and the cat’s litter box was clean. Outside on the porch, I filled the bird feeders, hung extra suet, and had a good stock of corn and seed. Cell phone, laptop and camera batteries were charged. Extra batteries were stocked for flashlights and radios. I was concerned about some of my large pine trees near the house but glad I had the yard and driveway trees trimmed last fall. I am on top of a hill and tend to catch precipitation from all directions. It is nice to have the views; unfortunately, one must also accept the negative aspects. NYSEG warnings were ominous along with updated weather warnings. I hoped it was hype. It was not.
The heavy wet snow broke off numerous pine boughs that formed green skirts around the trees. I could hear them snapping off like gunshots which scared the cat into hiding. Power went off and lights occasionally flickered for several days. Then the wind came. The radio gave updates of thousands without power. My town declared a state of emergency. I was on Facebook with friends from coast to coast. California had torrential rain and New Hampshire looked like our area. My poor plowman had little to no sleep and had extra help with him shoveling when he got stuck. I am retired so am happy to wait while others need him more.
My turn came and it took many times longer than usual to clear a car-width exit route down the hill to Rigor Hill Road. Great for an emergency; no way was I going out. When things finally calmed down I had about two feet of snow on the ground with deer following the open drive to browse on fallen limbs and bird corn. There was a particularly pitiful-looking little late summer’s fawn. There are always some that struggle through the winter and succumb to starvation and predation just before spring. After midnight I heard the pack of howling coyote/wolf mix in the field. Yesterday there were crows, ravens, and a pair of Bald Eagles flying down into the snow. My guess was that the remains of a fawn lay there.
Coyotes will have young to feed and an eagle pair are on their nest east of me. Nature keeps on challenging and providing. It is now officially spring, and our warm seasons begin. The snow is melting, and I am focused on that beautiful sun. The flower bed and I are more than ready.
