Snowflake

It has been quite awhile since I did this! Working up at camp has taken up a lot of my time, but recently my surroundings have gotten my old writing juices flowing, especially since I get to live in such a beautiful place, so here I go.

This morning as I was paddling across the lake in the late morning I had the pleasure of seeing a snowflake. Not an actual, physical snowflake mind you, but rather a snow bunting, also known in the far North as a "snowflake." I was thrilled to see him because not only was he a beautiful bird, but it was also the first time I had ever seen one. A snow bunting sighting also means much more up here. It means that winter is not very far behind the coming of this little bird. Snow buntings are birds that breed in the far, far North, farther than Alaska, and thrive in harsh, cold climates. Every winter these small birds descend to the northern states for the winter, feasting on the things that would be in a deep freeze farther north. Seeing a snow bunting is yet another indicator of the seemingly rapid change of seasons.

All around us up here there have been other signs of the approaching winter. For the past three nights we have been experiencing very deep overnight frosts. This has also triggered the fall colors, making the surrounding area flaming yellow with changing birches, aspens, and tamaracks. It is quite a change in comparison to Norfolk, where I have spent my last four autumns, where I could expect to see temperatures in the 50's, not the 20's, and where I could expect to see migratory ducks descending from the northern parts of the states. All these things are beautiful and exciting in their own way, but it is certainly a change when compared to the soon to be frozen reaches of northern Minnesota.

All these transitions have lead me to think about the connection to the land that I have been establishing since I came up here to stay in late May. Working outside for months and months has really made a deep connection in my heart to this place and has immersed me in the beauty of the seasons as well as the beautiful setting around me. More and more I have been feeling more connected to nature and wilderness, feeling like it is a place where I belong rather than a place that I visit. I truly believe that, deep down, all humans are meant to live closer to the nature around them and it has been very refreshing to feel that connection as I paddle across the lake, listen to the wind in the trees and the thumping of grouse in the bushes, and as I spend hour after hour splitting our winter stockpile of wood. Perhaps I am finally beginning to form a deeper relationship with the beautiful framework of the wilderness around me, and also with it's mighty creator. The wooded, dense, and watery landscape of northern Minnesota is carving out a very special place in my heart, along with the idea and concept of wilderness itself, and I think that that relationship will be with me for years to come. All this from a small snow bunting, pecking at the ground near my beached canoe.