20 January 2016

Things I saw in a snowy vineyard

It does happen. Here came a car. Some people just drive through on the gravel road, but most of the vehicles we see out there belong to people who tend the vines. That was the case with this one. The driver recognized me and, especially, Callie. We waved as he drove past.


At about the same spot, I noticed this flower in the snow. The ground has stayed very warm since summer, and there were, at least until now, still wildflowers all around the vineyard.




I also noticed a lot of animal tracks. I don't really know what big animal had been wandering around out there. Maybe a badger? The paw print was two or three inches from top to bottom. That's a layer of brown leaves you see on the ground, under the slushy snow.


Here's another paw print. I don't know what this one is either. You might notice that the photo is smudged. A fine, frigid mist was floating in the air, and toward the end of the walk I realized that my camera lens was so wet that the drops of water were starting to, well, drip and run, blurring the photos.


This last shot seems to show the curvature of the earth. Well, not really. The vineyard sits on top of a curved ridge, with deep ravines on either side where streams flow down toward the river when the weather is wet. It was wet yesterday, because the snow was melting on the warm ground. The air temperatures had stayed slightly above freezing overnight and remained there all day. Nearly all the snow is gone now, I think.

24 comments:

  1. The first footprint is spot on... badger....
    the second is dog like... so if not Callie, a fox as it looks very pointed.
    The flower is a Tansy... and the planted ones here are still in flower, too.
    Both the landscapes are quite atmospheric.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I figured that print was a badger's because I've seen a badger in that part of the vineyard several times over the past few years.

      Delete
  2. I had hoped that it was the Beast of Renaudier! A perfectly benign beast of course perhaps on away day from the Zoo. Lesley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've probably mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: one day the people who owned this house before us were sitting out on the terrace when they saw a kangaroo hop by out on the street. It had escaped from the Beauval zoo, which is just two or three miles from here (as the kangaroo hops).

      Delete
    2. At which point they immediately stopped drinking Absinthe!!

      Delete
  3. My Granny used to call weather like that a 'Strawberry Winter'. I wish now I'd asked her why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never heard that expression and don't find anything on the internet about it. A lesson for all of us: ask your elders what they mean by the interesting things they say.

      Delete
  4. Very interesting to see the paw prints. I figured that someone would know, and fill us in :)
    We've got snow today, too. First one this winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope that your snow was as gentle as ours and that it won't stay on the ground very long.

      Delete
  5. Beautiful pictures. Looks pretty chilly out there. Keep warm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had a new boiler installed just two months ago, we we are toasty warm this winter.

      Delete
  6. Good of you to share this with us - a walk into a kind of Wind in the Willows land. Such a nice antidote to a demanding work day in the city. You and Walt know how to bring out the poetry of nature.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lol, Lesley! The first footprint looks quite beastly to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As Americans, our first thought would be "bear print!" But there are no bears around here. I have seen that badger a few times, but only from a long distance. In the woods just a few dozen yards from where I saw the paw print, I've also see, signs of digging of the kind a badger would do.

      Delete
  8. We just arrived in the States, having missed the missed my beloved snow in Amboise, so thanks for showing me the scenes. Unfortunately, I have none of my own for ADP warehouse. We'll be in NC (Chapel Hill) next week... I'll send everyone regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure where you are, but if you're in the DC area, you might be in for a heavy, deep snowfall starting tomorrow. They're saying 12 to even 24 inches might be on the ground by Saturday or Sunday. In N.C., if you make it over to Durham, remember me to James B. Duke.

      Delete
  9. The animal tracks look like it was a fair sized animal ! Badgers are vicious, aren't they ? Poor animals, trying to find food in a frozen wasteland :) Reminds me, I have to go to the supermarket before our next snowstorm .. this is getting boring.
    love from a frozen New York State.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those Albany-area winters can be brutal, I've heard. I remember going there many years ago and it was frigid -- a white winter wonderland.

      Delete
  10. The first footprint is probably a badger, the second one looks like a cat footprint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jean... cats don't have that shaped foot, with two claws visible at the front, and tow at the sides...

      Delete
    2. You can't tell from the photo, but that second print was much to big to have been left by any cat that lives around here. It was even large for a dog's paw print -- much bigger than a print Callie would have left. There's a man who works out there accompanied by a doberman. Maybe it was that dog's print.

      Delete
    3. That's possiblel Ken...
      a fox print would be around the size of Callie's at the largest...
      unless a wolf has escaped from Beauval....
      or, perhaps, there really is a " Beast of Renaudier!"

      Delete

What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?