Solstice blues?

As we approach the longest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere, we have been encountering unusual, if not downright aberrant, behavior by emissaries of our local wildlife. It began, or at least we first noticed it, several days ago. We had filled the front sunflower seed feeder the day before and the next day it was almost empty. Usually, the front feeder is good for five to seven days feedings between fillings. Wondering if the birds knew of an impending storm we hadn't heard about, we refilled the large tube feeder.

feeder pole on the ground after whitetail attack last Spring

Photo by J. Harrington

Last night the Daughter Person and Son-In-Law stopped by. The Son-In-Law mentioned that, as they pulled in, they had scared a large whitetail deer away from the front feeder. We had a problem last Spring when one of the local herd bent the feeder pole and knocked the feeder to the ground. That time there had been tracks on soft, wet ground. This time the frozen ground, despite snow cover, displayed no evidence except a large distribution of sunflower seeds on the ground.

We've become accustomed to bringing the feeders in at night in Springtime, as the bears come our of hibernation looking for snacks. Bringing feeders in at night during the Winter because of whitetails adds a whole layer of irritation that may require serious reconsideration or reconfiguration of maintaining front feeders in addition to those on the back deck.

Speaking of the back, on our little patch of sandplain, we have not one but two separate eruptions of pocket gopher mounds that we've noticed in the last couple of days. Remember that we mentioned the frozen, snow-covered ground not showing deer tracks. If the ground is frozen, how is it that the pocket gopher are doing all their digging and mound making? We suspect if we tried to dig into one of their tunnels with a shovel, so we could set gopher traps, we'd find the ground is too frozen for human digging, absent a backhoe, which defeats the whole purpose.

last Winter's Solstice "bonfire"

Photo by J. Harrington

Is this all part of a new normal in the Anthropocene? Is this part of nature's revenge? In the quarter century or so that we've lived here, never before have we noticed new gopher mounds in the Winter, nor, with the exception of last Spring, have creatures other than bears and squirrels attacked our bird feeders. If anyone thinks they have a good idea of what's going on, please feel free to use the comment box. This is making us a little twitchy.

On the other hand, the sun is shining, we've passed through another spell of single-digit mornings to milder temperatures, a number of raptors appear to have arrived from Northern outposts and the Better Half is baking Christmas cookies. Before we get too unhinged we'll enjoy a spell of the good things in life.

Between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, Today

By Emily Jungmin Yoon

I read a Korean poem

with the line “Today you are the youngest

you will ever be.” Today I am the oldest

I have been. Today we drink

buckwheat tea. Today I have heat

in my apartment. Today I think

about the word chada in Korean.

It means cold. It means to be filled with. 

It means to kick. To wear. Today we’re worn.

Today you wear the cold. Your chilled skin.

My heart knocks on my skin. Someone said

winter has broken his windows. The heat inside

and the cold outside sent lightning across glass.

Today my heart wears you like curtains. Today

it fills with you. The window in my room

is full of leaves ready to fall. Chada, you say. It’s tea. 

We drink. It is cold outside.

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