Star Journal

Top Menu

  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe

Main Menu

  • Local
    • News
    • Business
    • Schools
    • Law & Order
    • Arts & Ent
    • Wedding Planner
    • Viewpoint
    • Sports
      • Sports News
      • High School Sports Scores
  • Covid 19
  • Outdoors
  • Wellness
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Our Legals
    • Legal Ads
    • Statewide
  • Obits
  • Lake View
  • Northwoods NOW
  • Living On The Lake
  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe

logo

Star Journal

  • Local
    • News
    • Business
    • Schools
    • Law & Order
    • Arts & Ent
    • Wedding Planner
    • Viewpoint
    • Sports
      • Sports News
      • High School Sports Scores
  • Covid 19
  • Outdoors
  • Wellness
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Our Legals
    • Legal Ads
    • Statewide
  • Obits
  • Lake View
  • Northwoods NOW
  • Living On The Lake
Uncategorized
Home›Uncategorized›The Natural Enquirer: A Northwoods winter

The Natural Enquirer: A Northwoods winter

By StarJournal
December 17, 2011
728
0
Share:

Sure a lot of people love winter. They are drawn to pursuits that engage the season on its own terms; things like skiing, skating, snowshoeing, ice fishing, sleigh riding, snowmobiling and even camping. But change the scene to the Northwoods snow belt, and it’s a different story. People don’t go there to pass time during the cold months. Indeed, many clear out and head south.

Those of us who remain try to carry on our lives in a normal way. We go to offices and factories and schools. We build buildings, serve food, sell products, study and drive trucks, cars and buses. Thus, when you have to get to your job every day, you tend not to think of winter wonderlands. Instead, you think of the weather as a hostile foe, and snow as a serious obstacle.

If you want to soak up the beauty of nature in a white blanket, you probably should go somewhere else. Snow in towns is pristine and picturesque for perhaps an hour or two before it begins turning to a dreary gray. When it’s not there, and the ground is as hard as iron, you worry that it’s coming; when it’s there, you wish it would go away. What’s not to hate? Even without the gray stuff on the ground, life outside can be miserable. The mercury is almost always below the freezing mark, and when The Hawk drops in, subzero readings hang around for days, even weeks at a time.

The Hawk is what we call the winter wind around here. It’s an appropriate tag, for when the wind hits full force, you can feel its talons tearing at your face. Your eyes water, your skin becomes as coarse as a catcher’s mitt and your psyche brims with a mixture of anger and defiance, self pity and despair. The snow only makes things worse.

When the really bad weather strikes, television crews, from the network news programs, gleefully transmit the same pictures every year from the towns, little old ladies (or men) heavily wrapped in wool, being rolled like bowling balls across ice-covered streets by gale-force winds; or ghostlike images of people struggling through waist-high snowdrifts to buy bread and milk. I’ve heard that Eskimos are supposed to have something like 937 words for snow. Some Northwoods folks tend to have only a few-none of which can be repeated here.

I’m sure that many people who live in the Northwoods could take issue with some of the things I’ve said. But I doubt if anyone would argue over the amount of effort it takes just to suit up sensibly to protect yourself against the Upper Wisconsin cold. Dressing for winter calls for more equipment than is worn by the average football linebacker.

So now for the obvious question: why do those of us who hate harsh northern winters continue to live here? I wish I had a bright answer to that, but I don’t.

As far as those of you who live in other parts of the country are concerned, perhaps it’s enough to know that not everyone is wild about the great out-of-doors of a Northwoods winter. If you don’t believe that, then read the lips of those you see on those network news shows about winter storms. They are not mouthing the lyrics to “Frosty the Snowman.”

Peter Dring is a retired nature biologist and phenologist who lives in the Land ‘O Lakes area. Questions or comments for Dring can be sent to starjournal@jcpgroup.com.

Previous Article

Dedication set for 3,195 acre Winter Park ...

Next Article

Clarifying city’s historical groups By Craig Strid

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Uncategorized

    Lincoln Street sidewalk project slated for completion by mid-October By Craig Mandli

    September 21, 2011
    By StarJournal
  • Latest NewsUncategorized

    Right To Work may have little effect on Wisconsin

    March 20, 2015
    By StarJournal
  • Uncategorized

    Obituary: Joanne B. Hirman

    October 19, 2012
    By StarJournal
  • Uncategorized

    Rhinelander Hodag, January 7, 2015

    January 7, 2015
    By StarJournal
  • Uncategorized

    Northwoods United Way now accepting applications

    April 4, 2013
    By StarJournal
  • Uncategorized

    Hydrant flushing notice, June 20

    June 20, 2012
    By StarJournal

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

About Us


Star Journal is published by Multi Media Channels LLC, N2919 County Road QQ Waupaca, WI 54981.

Timeline

  • May 19, 2022

    Obituary: Constance M. Bloom

  • May 19, 2022

    Teens with character

  • May 18, 2022

    Hodag boys track and field wins GNC title

  • May 17, 2022

    Nicolet College academic success honor awarded to jail inmate

  • May 13, 2022

    First Hodag Park improvements underway

Find us on Facebook

  • Contact Us
  • Hodag Star Journal E-Edition
  • Subscribe
Copyright © 2020 Multi Media Channels LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted without the prior written consent of Multi Media Channels LLC.
×