On frozen pond
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[I was really hoping to get out into the forest to check out the effects of the ice storm this weekend, but now the U.S. Forest Service has closed all the recreation areas on the east side of the forest.
All roads leading into the recreation areas are blocked with downed limbs and trees and the Forest Service is out surveying to determine where to begin the clean up.
The River to River Trail is likely a mess with downed trees.
On Saturday Vicky and I hiked up to my parents house. They were snowed in until Wednesday, spending the week hibernating, taking photographs and gathering wood for their stove.
The sun was shining Saturday and we decided to take a walk to see the frozen ponds. We fought our way through the autumn olive tangle and emerged in the field to get a shock.
The oldest and most beautiful oak tree on the farm was destroyed. Two boughs that were large enough to support a tree house were broken. The tree almost resembled a peeled banana. One bow remained like a crooked arm.
This was the tree where my dad had hung a swing for us to use as kids. On a summer day my brother and I loved hiking past the pond to swing like monkeys in the shade of the enormous oak.
The amount of destruction to the tree was as breathtaking as it was heartbreaking.
The tracks in the snow tell stories. We walked past plenty of deer tracks, turkey tracks and rabbit tracks which are curious with just three holes in the snow. Coyote or dog tracks extended out onto the ice-covered pond to a small hole where the animal presumably got a drink.
I walked onto the pond, but the ominous cracking sound and Vicky's protests kept me near the bank. Then the ice did break under my foot while walking on a frozen ditch and I got my pants wet.
I had hoped to go down into the hollow to get some photographs of icicles on the bluffs and changed my mind. The hollow is steep and ice was falling off of the limbs as the temperatures crept over the freezing mark. The walk around the ponds was adventure enough.
These two years of ice storms have done a number on our forests. I had never seen such an open canopy in the Garden of the Gods Wilderness as I did in October climbing suicide hill.
Trees are down everywhere and sunshine reaches places where before had been shaded.
It will be interesting this spring to see what kind of ground flora pops up. It could spell a fine year for wildflowers and give the sun-loving oak trees a boost over the maples which the Forest Service desires.
This week has been one of hardship and I am grateful to have only become stuck in the snow one time in an alley on South Street. Neighbors had been pulling vehicles out all day so they figured one more was not such a big deal. After I crawled around in the snow underneath the truck several minutes looking for a solid place to hook the chain he pulled me out. So bravo to him and everybody else who took the trouble to save a neighbor or stranger a towing bill. If nothing else this winter storm has offered us plenty of karma building opportunities.
-- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.