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   Our winter weather has certainly been variable for the last month or so. A couple of weeks ago, people were ice fishing on eight inches of ice. Last week, the ice on the lake was mostly gone. Flocks of geese and a few trumpeter swans were swimming about thinking spring was here. I even saw large groups of snow geese winging their way north. At the time, I thought their migration was a bit premature and they would soon be disappointed when the weather returned to our normal February temperatures. This morning, I saw a flock of geese come in for a landing on the lake. Rather than a gentle splash down they expected, they skidded across the ice. They are currently walking around on the lawn in front of the cabin wondering where the water went.                     

   The syrup making project has come to a sudden halt. The outside temperature needs to be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night to make the sap run. We had a few warm days when the temperature was above freezing both during the day and night and then dropped off to below freezing during both time frames. We checked the sap buckets on Saturday and found we had collected nothing. To add insult to injury, three of the collecting buckets had blown down. I attached the buckets more securely in hopes we will get a couple more weeks of ideal weather before we give up on our annual walnut syrup making project.

   While out and about, running around the farm, we decided to change out the trail camera memory cards to see if anything interesting was happening in the woods when we were not around. We found more deer than we were expecting were running around at all times of the day and night. Most of the bucks are still carrying their antlers. Several coyotes are on the roam, probably hunting more than usual as they get ready to have their pups if they have not already been born. They most frequently get their pictures taken from sunset until about 10:00 P.M. It is interesting to see a picture of a raccoon or opossum and thirty seconds later, a bob cat is photographed. One would think eventually we would run out of raccoons and opossums, but this does not seem to be the case. Up at the one-thousand-yard shooting bench, we have pictures of a skunk. In the early evening, each day, there is a picture or two of him coming toward the camera. A few hours later, there are a couple pictures of him going the other way. I am not sure where he is going, but he is consistent.

   It is always fun to go through the pictures when we get back to the house. From the comfort and warmth of my easy chair, I can look carefully at the photos on the memory cards. It never fails in that there will be something in the group of photos that is unexpected. This week, I had a picture of a deer so close, it took me a while to figure out what I was looking at. I finally determined it was a deer’s eye from about two inches from the cameral lens. It was as though she was trying to see what was inside that little box hanging on the tree. Another shot was of a young buck, standing on his hind legs, reaching as high as he could into a cedar tree. I have no idea what he was doing, but I am sure he had his reasons. If he was marking his territory, his mark seems a bit out of the way for other deer to find it.

   When a person goes for a winter outing, they never know what to expect. It may be warm or it might be cold. The only thing for sure is it will be interesting.

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