Dreary

It's the back end of February, the dreariest time of year in these parts. It's cold, but just above the freezing mark. It's a steady drizzling rain outside right now, but it started out as light snow earlier. There are still patches of old, dirty snow hanging around, but the predominant colors are gray and brown. It's not quite mud season yet - that'll start in three weeks or so - and the ground is still frozen. It's all absolutely lifeless, the tag end of Winter just before things start to wake up. That's why the following photos look the way they do, and why I shot them in black & white. As I said, it's dreary.

The view out my kitchen window

The backyard shed next door

West King St. on a dreary February day

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

It's Still Winter

Yup, it's still Winter in these parts, and there's still snow hanging around from the blizzard in January, even though it's rained several times since then. It's seasonably cold, although that's a little bit above the freezing mark so the snow is melting, however slowly. But it still freezes every night and walking before sunrise can be a slippery process. There's also a crust on top of the snow so that walking in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park, which I did this morning, can be a tiring process. But as you can see, the difficulty is worth it!

As usual, I stop by the bridge over Branch Creek on my way to the park. The creek is running a bit high because of the snow melt and the recent rain

The "bridges" over the creek where it runs between the ball fields

Orange fungus of some sort on a fallen branch along the Dykeman Walking Trail

The Purple Martin house in the Dykeman Spring wetland

The view of the creek from the red bridge

A pair of Mallard drakes on the north duck pond

The northeast corner of the north duck pond

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Wintry Walk

I took my weekly walk to the grocery store through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park as usual today. There's still a good bit of snow around, and at least here in the park it still looks pretty, not being trampled on and driven over. Plus we've had several snow squall lines move through in the last week, laying down a new, albeit thin, new coat of white. And it's bone-chilling cold today and forecast to be even colder over the weekend, so nothing's melting.

This was also something of a celebratory walk. I bought a new camera with tax return money, and I needed to put it through its paces. This is essentially an update of my old faithful camera that was drowned in a cloudburst in November of 2013. I was very disappointed in the camera I replaced it with, which turned out to be nothing more than a glorified point-and-shoot. This new camera gets me back to using one of Canon's true "bridge" cameras, a point-and-shoot with DSLR function. So far I'm pleased. See what you think.

Homegrown Himalayas - snow piles in the parking lot at the ball fields

Looking across the wetland in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park

This poor Mallard was a Mink's breakfast this morning

The creek in the Dykeman Spring wetland

A view of the mountains to the north from the upland meadow in the park

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Another Sunday Constitutional

I went walking in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park on the way to the grocery store this morning. Here are some things that caught my eye.

Gum Run is running high and fast due to all that melting snow

Great Blue Heron tracks in the snow in the Dykeman Spring wetland

A pair of Mallards cruising the north duck pond

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Snowy Walk in the Park

As promised, I went back to the Dykeman Spring Nature Park this morning to tour the park in the snowy aftermath of the Blizzard of 2016. There was still enough snow to make walking difficult, so I stuck with the wetland area and decided against struggling up the hill to the upland meadow; I was tired enough just touring the lowlands! The snow was relatively undisturbed; mostly I was just following ski tracks of somebody who went through the park on cross country skis. The only really disturbed area was around the north duck pond, and that wasn't done by humans, that was all the ducks and Canada Geese who winter there. So there was plenty of undisturbed snow to capture in the camera. Come walk with me!

Branch Creek running between the ball fields

The Dykeman Walking Trail at the old railroad trestle

A wetland stream winds through the snow

A section of the wetland in the snow; note the Mink tracks in the foreground

The picnic area by the north duck pond

The red bridge over the creek on the Dykeman Walking Trail

Looking across the wetland to the woods north of the duck pond

Another wetland stream winding through the snow as we leave the park

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Quick Peek

On my way to the grocery store today I took a quick trip to the nature park to assess snow conditions there in preparation for a complete tour tomorrow. I got as far as where the creek runs between the ball fields because the snow is till quite deep and I didn't want to get too tired from wading through deep snow on a day when I had errands to run. So while I was getting a shot of the "bridges" over the creek there I discovered a visitor - a juvenile Great Blue Heron! I'd seen an adult flying around a little earlier, and while I was wading through the snow heading for the concrete bridge I noticed movement down by the water. Surprise! Heh, heh! It was busy putting as much distance between me and it as possible without actually having to fly, and then trying to make itself blend into the background. Something tells me tomorrows hike is going to be interesting.

The creek in snow

The youngster walks away slowly, keeping one eye on me the whole time

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Aftermath

Our blizzard on Saturday set some records, at least up in Harrisburg, where it registered as the most snow in a storm on record. Here in Shippensburg it finally topped off officially a 32" (81 cm), although there are some drifts here and there that are as tall as me, and I'm 5' 10" (1.8 m). Certainly there are places where the snow is thigh deep and even waist deep on me; the wind blew that light snow around quite a bit. Today I went up to the grocery store and took pictures on the way. I didn't go through the nature park this time; I stressed my lower back at work Friday, loading some portable generators for customers and stacking 50 lb. (22.7 kg) bags of rock salt, and then on Saturday I took that walk down King St. at the height of the storm. So now my back is hurting. Plain walking is finally okay today, but I didn't want to push it wading through deep snow in the park. Maybe tomorrow? Meanwhile, here's what the town looks like in the snow. Enjoy!

Heading downtown by McLean House

Closed for the season - the outdoor dining area at the Select Diner

God's Acre Cemetery on N. Prince St. in the snow

Company trucks at the Comcast office - I guess there's not much business in a blizzard

A cozy winter scene on Queen St.

Almost back home - Branch Creek at King St.

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

The Blizzard of '16

We finally got our first snow of the season, and it's a doozy! They're calling it Winter Storm Jonas, but in my mind it'll always be the Blizzard of 2016. There was definitely no going to work today, but I decided to try to go for a walk downtown later in the morning. Not my brightest idea! You couldn't tell from looking out the window, but once out on the porch I discovered how bad this storm was. Even on the porch it was drifting, but getting down the porch steps was tricky, and down at sidewalk level it was up to my thighs. After struggling through the snow to get to the semi-plowed street the walking was easier, but that was when I decided this would be a short walk. Not only was walking difficult because of the snow depth, but it was also snowing hard and the wind was blowing, adding to the difficult conditions. So I just went down to "The Square" (the intersection of King and Earl Streets) and back again. The several times I needed to get out of the street gave me an idea of how deep the snow was, and I figured it was around 20" (50 cm). That was at 10:00 am, and it's been snowing steadily since then (it's almost 4:00 pm now), often at a rate of 2" or 3" per hour! Yessir, this snow is gonna be around for a while!

The view out my kitchen window around 9:00 am

Stepping out on the front porch at 9:45

Down on The Square looking west down King St. at 10:00 am

Down on The Square looking east up King St.

The outdoor dining section at the Select Diner on The Square

Looking out my study window around 2:00 pm at the drift draping off my roof

My trash cans are buried! Another view out my study window

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Closer Look

It's mid January and still no snow. Walking in the Dykeman Spring wetland offers the same bland, dreary, brown and gray panorama. But today I discovered that getting down on ground level and looking closer reveals a bit more color and interest.

Asian Bittersweet berries 

Joe Pye Weed seed husks still hang on

A tiny, delicate fungus in the woods in the wetland area

Another of those tiny fungi on the woodland floor

And this male Cardinal perched himself nearby to check out what I was up to

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A New Year Begins

December of 2015 was the warmest December on record in these parts, but with the New Year we're getting back down to more normal Winter temperatures - high temperatures just a little above freezing (low 40s F, 5º - 7º C) and lows below freezing (upper teens to mid 20s F, -8º to -3º C). I went for a walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park this morning to revel in the feel of Winter in the woods. Now if it would only snow!

The Dykeman Walking Trail on a snowless January morning

Looking across the Dykeman Spring wetland

Long tree shadows stripe the trail as it wanders through the woods

A fallen Oak leaf beside the trail

Post scriptus: The following shot was taken and processed specifically for Facebook, and more particularly for a private group dedicated to photography describing an imaginary dystopian world (although I've posted it to my Timeline as well). I thought I'd post it here for your amusement!

"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls..."

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger