WINTER CAN INDEED BE BEAUTIFUL

SKY AND ICE

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  23 degrees F, wind N, calm with occasional gusts.  The sky has a moderately high overcast and some scattered lower clouds and a few errant snowflakes are drifting downward.  The humidity is 77% and the barometer is trending up, and stands now at 30.27". It is again a very quiet morning.
   It looks like the weather is turning colder but without significant snow.  There is still ample snow on the ground but we have much, much less than last year at this time.  That is very good for the deer herd, which suffered huge loses the last several years from severe cold and deep snow, which caused them to yard up in heavy cover and made them vulnerable to coyotes and wolves.  Malnutrition and starvation also reduced deer numbers, and led to the birth and survival of far fewer fawns.
   Buddy needed to stretch his legs yesterday afternoon, so we stopped at the Sioux River beach.  The swirling clouds and pressure-ridged ice mimicked each other on a frozen canvas.  Winter can indeed be beautiful.