New England – Page 4 – New England's Narrow Road

New Hampshire’s October Snowfall – The First One!

October snow in New Hampshire — New Hampshire October Snowfall

Our first snow of the season fell in New Hampshire on October 28th and in my area (the Monadnock region) we got a couple of inches. It was heavy wet snow and with lots of leaves still on the trees – isn’t it still Fall? -branches were heavy and drooping.

When I went out to brush off my car, it was like being in the middle of a snowball fight as the big Oak tree that hangs over my driveway dropped it’s snow bombs when the wind blew! (photo below – I took these photos early in the morning)

Oak tree with leaves and snow — The Oak Tree is Still Full of Leaves

My title here says “the first one” because we are expecting more snow today – October 29th. In fact, the forecast is for 6-10 inches with 12 inches in the higher elevations. I hope all you leaf-peepers have seen the leaves because they will be covered with white soon.…..Yikes – I am not ready for this yet. I still need to get my driveway graded and the house is only partially sided. I knew when I bought this run down place that I had limited time to make improvements before winter hit, but I did think I’d have until around December – November at least!

State could see up to foot of snow (boston.com)
White to be fall color in Northeast this weekend (sfgate.com)

I Love the Snow, But Not Today

I do love watching the snow fall and it sure is falling today, February 25, 2011 in New Hampshire. South of here there has been a mix of rain and freezing rain, but it’s been all snow – all day – here. I was out earlier to shovel off about 5 inches since they say it is heavy (yes, it is) but I am under the weather today and certainly don’t want to go back out. It’s warm enough for the snow to also be sliding off the roof, so I have that to shovel on top of the 5 or 6 inches that has come down since I was out before.
Also the plow guy will show up at some point and I’ll have to move my car.
So I usually don’t mind the snow, but when I am sick I would rather not have to deal with it.
My side of this duplex gets lots of shade and I’m looking at this snow and thinking it will be here until June.

I Found The Snow

Last month I was asking where all the snow was, but I can tell you now that I have found it. For the fourth time in a little over a week the kids are missing school. My son is so sad, I’m sure he will be crying all day – NOT. But I might be… just kidding. No time to cry – must shovel!
We are not setting any records (except maybe the one for the most snow in the month of January) and usually get a bunch of snow where I live, but we are just getting it all at once.

So this morning when I went out to shovel out the bird eating stations and took a few photos. I think we are likely to get around 6 inches today. My car is in the shop so I won’t have to clean that off! Nice..! Of course I will have to pay the bill to have my brakes fixed.

If you are in New England, I hope you are enjoying the white stuff and are getting ready for that arctic chill coming this weekend when the temps will be well below zero.

I hate when the snow is as high as the deck. It makes getting it off much more difficult. As you can see, I will have a bunch to shovel once that roof lets go. And that is some heavy stuff.
The cat caught a blue jay the other day and I think he must have done so while hiding in one of the snow paths that lead to the bird feeding areas. The other cat, Fontana, mostly stays inside.

can in snow — Richie hoping to make a kill

Black Bears Leave Their Mark

markings on a tree — Are These Bear Claw Markings?

While walking in the woods with my cats, I came across some signs that the bear or bears had been looking for food.
I know that black bears will tear up dead trees looking for bugs to eat and there are quite a few dead trees in my woods that look as if that is just what happened.
Then I came across this tree where the bark had been stripped off and was lying all around the base of the tree. Upon closer inspection, I also found these horizontal markings in the wood on the tree.
I know there is at least one bear that has a trail of sorts through the woods in that area. I’ve found a valley full of very large boulders back in the woods and have seen the bear myself at the top of the hill, standing in the road.

dead tree bark on the ground — Bark Scattered At The Base Of This Tree

Just this summer my neighbors older kids were up the road in the “bear area” picking blackberries when they were frightened by a baby black bear that came trotting out of the bush.
Knowing that the mama was surely close by, they screamed, dropped their berries and high-tailed it home!
So what do you think, or know, about these markings? They are on a standing, dead tree and are noticeable in many various spots on the tree running horizontally and reaching up about 5 feet. Am I correct in assuming that a bear left these gouges in the tree while ripping off the bark? My other guess would be that insects living inside the tree, underneath the bark, made little tunnels in the wood.