EXPLORING THE LAST GREEN VALLEY: Finding beauty in January freshly fallen snow
Bill Reid
“On this day of bleak cold, the earth seems dead. Yet every northern field and hillside, like a child, has seeds and powers of growth locked within it. From cocoon to bur on a winter’s day, there is everywhere life, dormant but waiting,” By Edwin Way Teale, Jan. 7 entry from “Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist’s Year”
Today’s column continues a monthly series about discovering beauty in nature. My intention is to share the splendor of the outdoor world I encounter each month of the year as we pass through the four seasons in The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor together. I hope these monthly columns help you consider what beauty in nature means to you and invite you to share them with me.
Enjoy a monthly guide of adventures for 2021
By Bill Reid
New Year’s Day is Friday and each of us will welcome 2021 in our own way. I will be happy to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. The challenges this past year were unprecedented in my lifetime, and, even with the turn of the calendar year, the months ahead will continue in our “new” normal with economic uncertainty for many and health and safety concerns for all.
Despite the challenges of 2020, the year did bring my family unimaginable joy with the birth of twin grandsons July 19. My son and daughter-in-law live in the Midwest and due to the pandemic we have only seen the babies in video chats. In the year ahead I will finally hold them in my arms.
Welcome to winter: The season of snowshoes
By Bill Reid
The snows of winter arrived early this year, even before this week’s storm that covered The Last Green Valley in significant inches. Despite the recent arrival of the white stuff, winter actually starts 5:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday. Welcome to the Winter Solstice when throughout the Northern Hemisphere we experience the shortest amount of sunlight and the longest darkness of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is the Summer Solstice and the longest day.
The word solstice comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still.” Winter Solstice is when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun and the sun’s daily position in the sky is the lowest. From here on out the days will get longer and the sun higher in the sky. The slow countdown to spring has begun.