The stars were out last night when I came in, clip-clopping slowly across the ice in my Yak Trax, like a sharp shod work horse going back to its stable. They were not quite Adirondack bright, but pretty darned clear and cold and shiny for being so close to town. As cold as it was I shut off my flashlight for a few minutes just to watch and listen...as I do most evenings year round, testing and tasting the waters of our wild Northview fish bowl...
The night was exceptionally quiet as if all the smart creatures, even the cars and trains, had gone to their dens to snuggle up out of the cold. It was good to know that our work was done, cows fed and milked, heifers double fed against the cold, cats hiding in the barns and the pony tucked up for the night. The boss bought us takeout for supper so I didn't even have to cook.
There was one bright greenish object in the sky, just off the zenith. Could have been an exceptional star or maybe some man made thing cruising around up there with the ancients. I was too lazy to look it up when I came inside and besides a lot of research sites were as dark as that cold night sky...not that I blame them a bit. Maybe Orion was playing baseball instead of stalking around with his bow, hunting trouble. Maybe he hit one out of the park and it hung there shining against the dark. Could have been, who knows with Orion?
He tends to stomp across the heifer barn roof early every morning and I worry you know...he is pretty big and heavy.
Anyhow, this morning dawned with a frozen crescent moon and an ice skin over everything that is going to defy those Yak Trax I fear. Time to do it all again and to dream of spring and greenery.
Got to go milk, but I'll steal a minute. I had to get Becky last night after milking, which meant driving home after nine. There was no traffic, which was fine. A few yards after we got on Corbin Hill Road, there was this tiny, silvery-pewter colored thing standing on the road side. I passed it, but since there wasn't a headlight to be seen for miles, backed up for a better look. Of course I hadn't brought the camera because it was dark out and I didn't think I would see anything, but it sat quite calmly and let us have a goodly look. It was a little silver eastern screech owl. When Becky stepped out her door to make sure it was all right, as it stayed right there, it fluffed into the air like an impossible cotton toy and ghosted silently into the woods. Beautiful!
(I will not leave my camera at home...I will not leave my camera at home...I will not leave my camera at home...)
****Update-today's "reward birds" for my stormy drive over to Coby were a blue bird that flashed across the road right in front of the car down south of 20. He was simply glowing as he pumped the air.... indigo-cobalt, indigo-cobalt like wild blue neon in motion . Then there was a red-bellied woodpecker in a Norway Spruce on a neighbor's farm as I was driving home.