It is snowing this morning, a quiet blanket covers our hillside, but, for how long?Weather statistics won’t really show historians what this winter has been like so far, each time we receive a snowfall it either rains or warms up; the result here at the Farm is very open pastures, fields and woods. Yes, even in the woods the snow has disappeared except for very low and sheltered spots where water can’t run.

Our domestic fowl, hens and guinea fowl act as if it is springtime all ready, out picking on the grass and spending more time than usual in the yards and fields.

Meanwhile, with the consistently warming storms I am often feeling ominous about the potential for heavy ice; we still have trees standing with damage from the ice storm of 1998 and they are a reminder of how damaging ice can be.

The long trip toward fatality for these giant damaged trees is interesting and sad; they were our beautiful shelter in summer and winter and reminders of a time long ago when our house (built in 1820) was not here.  One particular maple that lost its top in 1998, stands dead now and as the water drops into the top of the trunk the rot works its way downward.  The woodpeckers of various species love this tree, it must harbor all sorts of food for them all year round. In windstorms and minor ice events, it drops branches and larger limbs and someday, when we least expect it, some large portion of the giant trunk (nearly 4 feet in diameter at the base) will come crashing down seriously damaging or destroying anything in its way. The expense of removal is beyond our means and, in fact, the tree is in the town’s right of way, so we continue to watch the demise of this giant happening Nature’s way.  SH