This week I was lucky enough to see my spot in the snow. The pond had slushed over, and you could touch the surface and watch the water jiggle. I didn’t see any new progress on the dam, but the oak tree had no more leaves, and the foliage was quickly dying. Usually, this time of year makes me sad, but something about being in Vermont made this feel happy. I haven’t seen real snow since 2018, primarily snow that I could pack into snowballs.
I went with two friends to my spot and really enjoyed throwing snowballs at them. I even called my mom and brother to show them the snow. And as I did that, it started snowing again. Such a simple thing brought momentary joy into my life, and I was so happy to see it.
Since I last visited my spot, much of the foliage had died, and the pond itself had significantly expanded. Melting snow and rainfall made the beaver dam more effective and created a marshy area. I hiked further than I usually did and found a few trees that had obviously very recently been chewed on by a beaver. This was really great because I was able to see that the beavers were still active in this area and not scared off by the hikers on the trail.
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