Winter (Redux)

After a week of warmth, Old Man Winter returned to Tennessee with four inches of snow. The storm came in fast and heavy on Friday, leaving a thick blanket for the weekend. The sun came out today, the world glowed, and the animals at Ecotone enjoyed an uncommon brightness.

"The months of the year, from January up to June, are a geometric progression in the abundance of distractions. In January one may follow a skunk track, or search for bands on the chickadees, or see what pines the young deer have browsed, or what muskrat houses the mink have dug, with only an occasional and mild digression into other doings. January observation can be almost as peaceful and simple as snow, and almost as continuous as cold. There is time not only to see who has done what, but to speculate why."

--Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac