THE SNOW MOON

THE SNOW MOON, Waghkonk Notes, February, 2026

Polar winds plunge over the southeast Catskills, freezing all before them and casting frosty whiteness about as they continue to bring real winter down to Waghkonk. The desiccated and sere husks of last season’s Beebalm, Goldenrod and Milkweed, bent by those gusts, seem to nod in agreement. The peaceful White Pines and the wise northern Oaks also bow before the all-powerful North Wind - for it rules this time. It is both King and Queen here and now and all pledge obeisance to its frozen might. Even us supposedly all-powerful humans cannot stop the Power from the Pole. The most that we can do is to deflect its wrath with our little ramparts of wood or stone, desperately chinking our walls - our armor, as it were - trying (with varying degrees of success) to defend our little dwellings from one of the unstoppable forces of nature. Even though December was colder than average no one was prepared for the bitter cold that is upon us now. The snow-storms of January, yes - all part of winter - but this prolonged bitter cold has not been seen here in recent memory. Who knows? Maybe this is the coldest weather that we’ll see. Right. Think positive I always say. One thing is for sure - we’ll find out.

HALFWAY TO SPRING - We are at the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The Celts celebrated this time as Imbolc (February 1-2), the years First Cross-Quarter Day. It is a time for celebrating the visible lengthening of days. Also celebrated as Groundhogs Day or Candlemas. The Mayans noted this moment on the Great Wheel as did Native Americans at Cahokia and at Anasazi.

THE FUTURE IS IN THE SNOW - Keep in mind that we are surrounded by so much life, even now in this biting cold, windy time. Hidden right in front of us is much that is dormant, waiting for the right “trigger”, the clues that initialize the beginning of Spring. Our land is like a snow desert, the Lady mantled in white, with seeds frozen in the Subnivian Zone (the scientific name for under the snow), suspended in frosty layers, waiting to thaw, to spring forth as unfurling bright-green leaves, and becoming plants (getting a little ahead of myself here). Snow is a great seed-depository. If you look closely you see millions (gazillions?) of tiny seeds from every type of grass, plant and shrub. As each seed absorbs warmth from sunshine, it gradually drops down deeper and deeper in the snow. It is theorized this is an adaptation by plants to preserve and promote their seeds, to protect them ‘til the snow melts in springtime.

ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS - Insects hide half-frozen under bark and leaf, also waiting (like us) for warmth and light. Sometimes in a winter thaw (please!), insects will hatch, responding to sunshine, providing a momentary change in menu for myriad small-birds, fluffed up with down (did they copy human’s down-coats for warmth?). Woodfrogs lie near-frozen under leaves adjacent to their ancestral vernal pools, incredibly awakening even before the ice disappears from their watery home. Beneath the protective snow-cover (White-tail Deer will decimate any bud, no matter how small, if not sheltered by frozen white), the wildflowers, the Spring Ephemerals, are just bursting to jump back into life. The snow also provides warmth and shelter to populations of small rodents. One detrimental effect of this - as many growers of fruit-trees well know - is that the small creatures love to gnaw off the delicate bark of shrub and tree, girdling them. This is why people have learned to wrap these saplings preventatively. The true hibernators are out there, too, - turtles and Woodchucks, for example - just biding their time. Wild Turkeys hole up in thickets, on branches above the ground, venturing out during the day to scrounge seeds (or anything else edible) on the surface of the snow. Their biggest threat are the Coyotes and Foxes who will try to grab an ill, old or very young bird.  It is hoped that the recent extreme cold has slowed the spread of certain serious regional invasive insects:  the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, responsible for large Hemlock die-offs (see www.hwa.org) and Deer Ticks, the main host for Lyme Disease. Unfortunately, it probably has not been cold enough to negatively impact Emerald Ash-Borer (EAB)(it would have to be a sustained -40 to do so), which is destroying our beautiful Ash trees. Now is the time for us to give the Small Birds a helping hand by putting out bird-seed, since many of their winter foods are covered in ice and snow. Black Bear, which only naps (not truly hibernating) may wake hungry during a thaw and home in on one’s bird-feeder, so please pay attention and consider bringing your feeder in if the weather warms. Hard to believe right now but spring probably is literally just around the corner.

IT’S THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION - I love my journey with you all, us spiraling around the Sun, Homeward-bound on our beautiful, blue orb. I’m not sure exactly what our destination is but I believe the journey itself - and how we conduct ourselves on that journey - is what is important. And winter is the time that is the greatest challenge to all of us, the time when our conduct in how we treat each other - and ourselves - is the most important. It is a challenging time for us all, some more than others. The challenge for the strong is to help those that are weak and the challenge for the weak is to let those that are stronger at the moment help them. Next time someone is angry or upset seemingly over nothing, or the other driver is rude or inattentive, they might be depressed from family problems (common in this season) or from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) - also not uncommon right now. We all need to be a little extra patient with each other. Just because someone else goes off on us, doesn’t mean we have to respond in kind. Again, I believe it’s not the destination that’s important but how we get there - the Journey.

MUST-HAVES on trails right now: warm boots, hats and gloves; snowshoes in some locations; polarized sunglasses or goggles will help with glare off the snow; sunblock; ice-grippers on footwear (at least YakTrax); trekking poles can be a big help; flashlight and/or headlamp.

I hope you all have a Happy, Healthy, Safe and Warm winter.

Thank you, “Ranger”Dave Holden. Please feel free to contact me at (845) 594-4863 / woodstocktrails@gmail.com / rangerdaveholden on Instagram / Dave Holden on Facebook / woodstocknytrails.com