A Bloy and his Blog

Over the past several weeks, the weather here in Madison has been very spring like. High temperatures have been up to 20 degrees warmer than average. Snow fall has been virtually non-existent, and lakes in the area are not frozen — a very unusual situation for January. The other day I was outside retrieving the paper, and I happened to notice a whole collection of box elder bugs (who hibernate during the winter) sunning themselves on the side of my condo. With the higher than normal temperatures there are mold spores and other allergens in the air. For about the past couple of weeks it’s gotten bad enough for me to take my daily allergy medications — something I’ve never done in January before.

read the rest of: Waiting for winter

Madison got socked in with snow today. About an hour into my work day, the “powers that be” decided to close the college because of the storm. I felt like a school kid who had the day off because of the snow.

read the rest of: Snow day!

While at work today, in the middle of a snow storm, my co-workers and I discovered two Northern Harriers (also known as Marsh Hawks) perched on a birch tree in front of the library.

read the rest of: Edgewood marsh hawks

When I woke up this morning the temperature in Madison was -5 degrees (F), the coldest so far this season. After I noticed the sunlight beautifully illuminating the frost on my bedroom window I couldn’t resist getting out my camera.

Even though Spring is just days away, we’re still getting snow in Wisconsin. I woke up this morning to see everything wearing a beautiful coat of snow. Here’s a picture I took at work today of the snow covered woods behind the library. As proof that beauty is fleeting, the trees were bare again in just a few hours.

With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and the sun shining, I thought it was a good day for a hike. So, I found the box my snowshoes were in (yes, I still have boxes to unpack) and headed over to Elver Park. The largest park in the city of Madison, Elver Park is only about two-thirds of a mile from my house and one of the reasons I chose to live where I do. While the wind was a little brisk today and the park full of sledders and cross country skiers, it was great being in the outdoors and hiking through nature again. Something I haven’t done for many months. There was even some solace to be found: watching the snow sparkle in the sun as the wind blew it off the pine tress I was hiking through.

When the wind on my face told me it was time to head home, I reluctantly did so, but not without feeling the charge of energy I get from being in the outdoors.

I’ve come to realize that being outside in nature is very important for me and my psyche. This fact really becomes apparent to me in the middle of winter (when I’m not outside as much as I am in warmer weather).

Thanks to a nice blanket of snow that fell over the past few days, I was able to strap on my snowshoes today and hike around the nature center and adjacent park near my house. I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the winter conditions. There were people cross country skiing, sledding, snow boarding and tobogganing. You might wonder how a person can enjoy the beauty of nature around you with all those people around? That’s the great thing about having snowshoes.

read the rest of: A winter hike