An oak leaf is frozen in place on ice that covers a pond.
Winter encapsules the northern hemisphere in cold as it angles this portion of the planet away from the sun. Life has retreated. Leaves fell from trees as the woody giants internalized. Monarch butterflies and hummingbirds migrated far away to warmer climates. Ants traveled farther underground. Chipmunks and woodchucks do not leave their burrows. The pace of the winter landscape has settled into a slower tempo. Still, many notes occupy the measures.
While the luna moth caterpillar rests in its leafy cocoon among fallen leaves under the snow, a fox leaves a trail of prints as it trots through the woods. A black-capped chickadee is busy prying hiding insects and cached seeds out from under tree bark. After seeing the fox leave and hearing the chickadee’s alarm call stop, squirrels resume their playful romp.
Snow offers new opportunities for expanded travel as mice excavate hidden tunnels that keep them safer in what would have otherwise been open woodland spaces. But the ear of an owl is not oblivious. The owl dives talons-first into a spot of noisy white. It sits there, legs submerged, wings splayed. Then it launches away with nothing. Missed.
A leaf skates across an icy pond where painted turtles reside under the cover of mud and mallards wade in an open spot of water. Another leaf remains frozen in place, having fallen into a damp spot that hardened into ice as temperatures fell. The fox had been here, too, as told by its tracks that went confidently over the pond where the ice is thickest.
The tempo of winter persists and is as steady as the fox’s clip. The measures are full and vibrant. Every step is a note. Every snowflake is a note. The tune is carried on as winter refuses complete dormancy.