GATE BETWEEN OPENS/THE FROST MOON

THE GAME OF WINTER should be on for real by now, but we keep getting enjoyably warm teases. November is usually cold (hence the Frost Moon) and the time when we get our first snow in Waghkonk. The Black Bears, Chipmunks and Woodchucks should be denning up for the winter, not to be seen again ‘til Spring, but since the forecast for this month looks mild, they all may not go down ‘til December. Turtles normally would be long-buried in the mud, dreaming Turtle-dreams and Woodfrogs fast-frozen under the leaf-litter, many of them close to ancestral woodland- or vernal-pools, awaiting a spring thaw. The Anishnaabe (Chippewa, Ojibwe) call this (aptly) the Freezing Moon. To my Abenaki ancestors it is the Freezing River Maker Moon and to many other Algonquins this is the Beaver Moon or Frost Moon. To our local Munsee this is called the First Snow Moon.

AS THE COLD NORTH WINDS whip little leaf-devils, sweeping dried leaves skittering into corners, they also brush aside our last vestiges of summer past, reducing it to fading memories of warm light and life. It definitely feels more and more like the Winter that was “just around the

corner”. Usually, we get to work our way more gradually into the cold season, getting used to the idea of what is ahead. Imagine the disaster if there was no fall, if summer went directly to winter - what a shock that would be! Thank goodness for Autumn. Some years we have Indian Summer - a usually short period of warming after the first hard frost.

A MUTED RAINBOW - Our fall continues to wind down, most leaves have colored and fallen. A few stubborn “hangers-on” (so to speak) don’t seem to want to leave (?) branch and limb. We’ve gone from the peak of the season - when not only the trees seemed to represent the full spectrum, but we also had every type of creature persisting in their presence - birds, insects, mammal - large and small - a full species-spectrum, as it were. The temperatures locally have definitely been seasonable - alternating cool and warm - with some early frost locally, as well as several very warm days. At times there is a steady breeze blowing, parting leaf from branch, creating a distinctive, crisp, (coincidentally) fall-like wind-chill. Myself, I wouldn’t dare guess what our future holds for us weather-wise - there are so many variables. I admit I might not be open-minded on the matter and may be hoping for a mild winter for my own reasons (hiking, working outdoors). I know the reality is that the winter’s going to do whatever it wants to and we’ll either adapt or go south. Hmm, there’s an idea - be a snow-bird. Nah, been there, done that. The truth is I always end up adapting to our beautiful winter of muted grays and browns - the Season of (Mostly) Subtle Colors. After a childhood in Labrador and Maine, both of which have much longer winters (at least compared to us), ice not leaving lakes ‘til May, I still - and will always - appreciate our generally equal-length, three-month-long seasons. One thing that is interesting about writing these articles is that sometimes it can take me a week or so to pen them and, in progressively changeable, dynamic periods like Fall or Spring, everything I’m writing about can change, sometimes drastically, from when I start a Waghkonk Note to when I finish it.

FAUNA - Since the last Moon much has gradually (and not-so-gradually) changed. Finally the last straggling Monarchs escaped to their Michoacán winter-forest as their Milkweeds spread their parachute-like seeds and more and more other insects have faded out (a few of them will emerge on a warm day in sunny spots - various moths, House-flies and Lady-beetles, for instance). The Cricket Chorus now consists strictly of Crickets and they are increasingly sluggish. The last of the Green Darner dragonflies have mostly dragon-flown out of here for sunnier climes. Haven’t seen any of our large rodents lately - Cottontail Rabbits (actually, they are lagomorphs - having slightly different skeletal features than rodents) and Woodchucks, though we have plenty of Grey- and Red Squirrels. There is never a dearth of the small rodents like Chipmunks, Deer- and White-footed Mice and Meadow Voles. Our Moles and Short-tail Shrews happen to also be lagomorphs, not rodents, classified in the Mammalian order Eulipotyphla, though I’m sure it matters not to my neighborhood Red Fox exactly what type of small creature he is eating (do rodents taste different from lagomorphs?). It seems like our Bear issues have somewhat calmed. Perhaps they’re loving what acorns and Beechnuts we did have this year. Remember, please, how much Black Bear love birdseed and can smell it literally for miles with their best-of-all-mammals extraordinary sense of smell, so maybe still wait to put out the bird-feeders. DEC recommends November 30 at the earliest to do so. Our wintering Red-Shouldered- and Red-Tail Hawks are around. The Crows seem to bicker over, well, everything. As the Crows totally freak out when a hawk enters their territory and try to mob them (usually unsuccessfully), the hawk seems to just shrug, as if to say “whatever” and then may, or may not, move on. At least one Great Blue Heron still persists and the Wild Turkeys are starting to gather in thickets for the winter, keeping wary eyes on local Eastern Coyotes.

FLORA - Most of the leaves of Beech, Birch, Hickory, Maple and Oak are on the ground now, waiting to become soil. Pretty darn smart, I'd say. Also, very egalitarian, in that you'll notice that a Beech probably doesn't care if Maple leaves help mulch its roots, nor does the Oak-tree reject the Birch-leaf. I wonder, though, if maybe the hardwoods are not happy to have the more acidic needles of Cedar, Hemlock and White Pine bedding over their rootlets. I find it interesting that many (most?) of the berries that still adorn bush, shrub and vine (Partridgeberry, Winterberry and Wintergreen - plus many viburnums and others) are mostly bright red or orange, adding color to our now-dun landscape. I thought these colors, when found in nature, usually signal “poison”, “eat at your own peril”, etc., but all seem to be happily gobbled down by myriads of small-birds (and chipmunks). It’s probably a form of mimicry these plants developed over time to discourage over-grazing, but it could also be to attract harvesting by birds so their seeds are then spread far and wide.

GATE BETWEEN OPENS - To the ancient Celts the first of November was Samhain (pronounced sow-win), the beginning of the New Year, the time of Rebirth, regeneration, which also coincided with harvest-time in Northern Europe and the sign of Scorpio. Also, it is precisely the mid-point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice - the exact complement to May first, Beltane, the Spring Fire Festival (exactly 6 months previous) which celebrated Birth. In astrology, the Bull is the symbol of May, the time of the generation of life. Interestingly, this was the same correlation the Sumerians made and in addition, they had four symbols for Scorpio, with the Spirit re-generating from the Scorpion through the Serpent, to the Phoenix, then to the Eagle - the highest of all. Note the difference between this and the modern, static interpretation of Scorpio. Celts believed that at this time the Gates Between the Worlds opened and the spirits of the ancestors were free to roam among the living and they celebrated this time as a time to rejoice, celebrating the harvest (the new) and remembering those that had gone on before (the old). It wasn’t until Christianity came along that death became a bad, evil thing, something to be feared. Most ancients accepted death as being an important part of life. I think it is a very interesting coincidence (if it is) that the primordial Aztecs celebrated this same time in such a similar way with their Day of the Dead.

Thank you all. Please stay Warm & Safe - “Ranger” Dave Holden / (845)594-4863 / woodstocktrails@gmail.com / Dave Holden on Facebook / rangerdaveholden on Instagram /woodstocknytrails.com