December to remember?

Winter struck with a vengeance this year. COLD weather - nearly three weeks with daily highs below freezing. Then there were three weeks of snow cover - unheard of in this latitude. I put extra coats, gloves, and boots in the car as a precaution when driving out of town.

But we got used to it. The dogs love the snow, sending up sprays of snow as they romp around, and leaving wet spots in the carpet from snow encrusted paws. My daily early morning ball throwing with the dogs was limited to the driveway because of the snow. And, we enjoyed a truly white Christmas.

Here are some of the high points that stick with me today.

First, Todd flew home for a weekend of shopping - with retail consultation from Suz, the resident expert on what is just right for grandkids. He got stuck overnight in Columbus when his flight was cancelled because of snow - in Nashville. No one can recall the last time that happened.

Then, I enjoyed a visit from my college roommate, Steve Schwab. He stopped in Marietta after finishing a 2 week trip to the Rocky Mountain area. He likes to make this trip in December. There was some white-knuckle travel in South Dakota. But he otherwise dodged really dangerous bad weather. We had a great visit.

Five-year-old granddaughter Catrina was fascinated as I gave her a "tour" of the ornaments on the 10' tree in our entry way. Many of these are from families of our parents and grandparents; others remind us of places we have visited over the years. She kept seeming to notice new ones - "I never saw that one before," even if she had seen it a few minutes before. Most of the kids and adults take the decorations for granted.

Then there was the letter from Santa that I had to write for granddaughter Emily. She had asked Santa longingly for a pet dog - a real, live one. "Santa" explained that another dog would be disruptive in their house with their two other dogs, and that he was leaving her with a toy pet dog. That toy dog had a sensor which caused doggie sounds to emanate from the package every time someone went near it. Her favorite toy of all she received was that dog.

The woods were beautiful. The picture above captures the beauty of the frozen waterfall, along with Gabbie. The dogs had fun walking in the frozen creek. The snow and ice gave us a three week respite from cleaning their muddy feet.

As the month ends, I have the prospect of playing golf as we enjoy a day in the 50's. Life is good in these Bittersweet Woods.

Red River Gorge

Grandson Connor wanted to do a backpack trip. His Dad, Gregg, agreed reluctantly - not being a camper person at heart, So, we planned our trip to scenic Red River Gorge area in Kentucky. I spent hours poring over maps trying to find the best combination of scenery, manageable hiking distances, and decent back country camp sites. But weather and a forest fire in the area disrupted my planned itinerary. That's one thing I have learned in 30+ years of backpacking trips - be flexible.

The long range weather began to look ominous the week before our trip. Forecast weather was for rain on Friday, then lows were in the 20s, highs in low 40s for the weekend. That's pretty cold for neophyte campers without certifiably warm sleeping bags and clothing. So we decided to stay in the Koomer Ridge campground rather than backpack. We could have campfires there; no fires were permitted in any other areas.

Car camping, as I call it, is a little easier. With a vehicle, we could cover more area than with a backpack trip. And hiking without a backpack is easier. The campfire is a plus in cold weather. The backpack experience would wait for another trip. I brought some extra firewood from home.

Friday dawned bleak and cold, but dry. I left at mid-morning, so I could scout the area, find a campsite, and set up the tents. The boys would arrive in the late afternoon. I arrived at the nearby hamlet of Slade, KY, for a few supplies and extra firewood. The rain had passed through, thankfully.

Slade was memorable from our family camping trip there in the mid-1950's. On that trip, we had become lost - there were only winding 2 lane roads then - no interstates. A kid gave us directions in the finest Appalachian drawl. My mother had misplaced a spatula needed for the camp kitchen and went into a general store (no convenience stores or WalMarts then) in search of one. "A what?", the girl behind the counter asked. "A spatula," Mom replied with a reassuring smile. The girl consulted someone else who asked what we used it for. The other lady finally said to Mom, "Are yew'all lookin' fer a pancake tarner?" Yes, that was it! We still talk about that and many other camping adventures from our youth. I digress....

Koomer Ridge campground was surprisingly busy considering the weather. It's a nice campground with wooded and generally roomy sites. I found a double site with a lot of privacy and set up camp. The guys pulled in about 5 pm.

Connor immediately started setting up the campfire. The rain had stopped, but it was cold - upper 30's by then. We cooked then visited around the fire until we used up our first day ration of wood, then went to bed.




Saturday dawned cold but with a few breaks in the clouds. Connor again built a great fire. We breakfasted, then set out to hike to nearby Silvermine Arch. We hiked through pretty mundane forest, wondering when the scenic stuff would happen. Soon we came to the edge of a cliff, hiked down some long steps, and around a series of narrow, blind turns - until....suddenly a massive cliff loomed before us. We hiked into an opening and saw the arch. Connor's reaction was one of amazement. He started climbing all over and through it. A picture is below. He was hooked on Red River Gorge scenery.




We drove and hiked through several more scenic areas, mostly in the Skybridge area. Skybridge itself is spectacular - a stone arch surrounded by stunning drop-offs with a nearly 360 degree vistas of the surrounding gorge. Later, it was back to camp to recount the days adventures - and restart the campfire, of course. We took a late afternoon hike to Hidden Arch, with several more cliffs for Connor to scramble around.

Sunday, we packed up and headed to Natural Bridge for a final hike before leaving for home. It was cold but sunny. We hiked up a trail built in the 1920's by a railroad company which promoted this amazing natural wonder as a tourist stop. Natural Bridge is a large stone arch. It and surrounding cliff line trail offer incredible vistas in every direction.



We took off for home and the favorable prospect of a warm bed and hot shower. I will always recall Connor's excitement at seeing the arches, cliffs, and vistas. It is one more adventure in the Bittersweet Woods life experience bank.

Snake Rescue

Every year, we hear of fish and sea animals becoming tangled in human trash - from fishing line to soda pop plastic bottle holders. Then there is the occasional video of a raccoon with its head stuck in a jar. I never expected such an event in Bittersweet Woods.

It happened on a Saturday afternoon recently. Our three grandchildren had just arrived for their annual week long visit. All of us started out on a daily ritual dog walk - their mastiff and boxer, along with our two old english sheepdogs. We ambled along the lower yard, headed for the trail along the creek.

I noticed a dark spot in the grass. Figured it was some yard detritus or a forgotten flower pot. Then it came more fully into view - a black rat snake with..........something. First I thought the snake had some prey wrapped up. Then to my dismay I could see that the snake was entangled in a ball of plastic netting the size of a soccer ball.

The snake was not going to live long in that state. It had only limited mobility, could not constrict any prey, and was likely unable to swallow anything. We snapped into rescue mode. I carried the snake to the house. Connor and Suz hustled after the tools needed to cut away the netting - scissors and fine cuticle scissors.




I held the snake while Connor cut away the larger outer netting cluster. The snake had become so entangled that cords of the netting dug were creased into its skin. Suz put on the most powerful reading glasses she has and went to work on the netting imbedded in the skin. In a few minutes, the snake was unbound; the last of the netting fell away.




Connor held it for the photo opportunity session. Then we marched down to a wood pile and released it. Fortunately, it seemed to move normally. It had probably been bound up for some time and may not have lived much longer.




The experience was unique, and gratifying. The grandkids had all participated, learned that snakes are not hostile monsters, and that humans can exert a negative
(and in this case, positive) influence on our natural environment.

It was one more lesson in life from Bittersweet Woods.

Emily the Explorer

Emily, on left, with sister Catrina.

It was Easter weekend 2010. Sunday capped off a beautiful week of unseasonably warm weather. Granddaughter Emily (age 8)asked me if we could explore the creek after church. Sure, I added enthusiastically, figuring I might not hear any more about it.

She and her brother Connor had a wonderful time exploring the creek last summer. But the novelty wore off because we were doing some brush and logjam clearing. He had no interest this time. The exploring terminology reminded me of one of her favorite TV shows for preschoolers - Dora the Explorer. After church she asked again. So, we pulled on rubber boots, and went exploring for real.

This time we kept the work part more manageable - mainly picking up large branches, clipping off intrusive multiflora rose, and clearing small log jams. It's fun to explore the creek. We get to walk through the water and mud while hopping over occasional logs. The stream has several nice rivulets and small waterfalls. I pointed out deer and racoon tracks. Several birds chirped in the background, flitting around in the canopy above us, carefully monitoring our intrusion into their space. Some wildflowers were out. Two frogs and a crawdad roiled the water briefly as we sloshed by them. Water striders roamed the still pools, defying gravity with their knack for using surface tension to walk on water.

We approached the waterfall, the highlight of any trip down the creek. First we had to check out a suspicious object on the hill above the falls. Suz had observed a white patch and an old lawn chair up on the hill. For months, we commented on it every time we hiked by it, but had never actually gone up to see it. She wanted to know what it was, but was fearful the object would be a decayed corpse, abandoned still, or other sinister object.

We bushwacked bravely up the hill. We came upon the remains of a former camp, most likely that of neighborhood teens. There was a chair, collapsed table, and the dreaded white object - which we could definitively indentify as an old sleeping bag with the insulation exposed. We could now report that these items were harmless. The area is secure. Law enforcement need not be called in.

We next explored the falls itself. I kept expecting Emily to say that she'd had enough exploring and could we go back home. Nope. And my subtle hints that we might be missed at home went unheeded. We needed to keep going. The area below the falls is pretty - very wide open, free of blockages, and has several fairly deep pools. We explored that area and could see and hear traffic on the Interstate.



Finally, I had to declare the exploration over. "Why?" she asked. "Because they'll wonder where we are," I answered. We hiked back. A chipmunk skittered across the trail. It was a magical grandkid experience for me - a special time that could easily be overlooked in the hubbub. She may forget about it, but our brief Bittersweet Woods creek expedition will stay with me forever.

Gary the Garter - our critter of the week

It's already July - warm, mostly sunny, long days, and prime time for critters in Bittersweet Woods. Gary the garter snake has moved into the local habitat, residing under the concrete steps at our entryway. You will excuse me if I assign this dude a male identity. I came up with the name mostly because of a fixation on alliterative sounds - Gary, Garter - you get the idea. Here he is just outside his den near our front porch.

We have seen snakes off and on over the years, but mostly off. This year, there have been several - mostly the benign garter snake and the wily black rat snake. Suz has been the snake observer; most of the sightings have been hers. She is pretty casual about seeing them compared to most other humanoids - she even brushed her hand against one while weeding.

Gary the Garter has been a very laid back resident. He suns outside his den. And usually just sits there when we pass by to observe. Even Gabbie and Tess, the curious old english sheepdogs, don't seem to phase him. Our grandchildren are here for the week - Connor is 11, Emily 7, and Catrina 3. They check up on Gary often. On the second day of their visit, Gary molted (shed his skin) and left his former skin near the den. He seemed proud of his deeper, brighter color of the "new" skin and ventured farther from his den.

We enjoy the critters that inhabit Bittersweet Woods, except for the occasional troublemakers - or the ones that want to come inside the house. More about one of those "insiders" in a future message. Come back to Bittersweet Woods - enjoy the serenity and marvel at the obscure goings on - often hiding in plain sight.