January Sweetness
Love is in the air (and lakes and ponds), quotes for coping with winter storms, and an activity to take stock of the season's ephemerality
We are midway through January, and what a wintery month it has been for many of us! Let’s take a moment to celebrate what’s happening in the outdoors this time of year.
Here are three events to watch for, two quotes, and one grounding activity to get you slowing down in the weeks ahead.1
Three Events to Celebrate this Month
1. Hooting Season has begun!
December through March marks one of the best times of year to look and listen for owls. They are in their nesting and mating seasons, which makes them louder and more active as they spend time calling more frequently to attract mates and making sounds to claim territories.
Great Horned Owls are especially well known for their noisy mating behaviors. The male will hoot and call vigorously for weeks, hoping to attract a female. Females will return the calls and as pairs find each other the courtship culminates with a “dance” of movements.
Once paired, these owls typically mate for life, and can be heard “dueting” to declare their territories (learn more about all of these actions, as well as nesting behavior, at this Denver Botanical Garden site).
Want to know what to listen for? Check out this recorded snippet of a male and female calling to each other, taken from the Everglades in Florida.
2. Ducks are pairing up
“Love” is in the also air for ducks right now too, as they go about their courting and pairing up rituals throughout the winter months. Ducks tend to be monogamous — but only through a single season.
Mallard ducks are some of the easiest to spot as pairs because of the distinctive plumage of each sex (the male is on the left, and female on the right in this photo).
If you go birding at a wetland or pond this time of year, watch for such mating rituals as head nodding and grunt whistling (or some of the others explained here).
3. The Wolf Moon
The first full moon of 2024 is called the Wolf Moon. This year it occurs on January 25. The name is related to the fact that wolves are more likely to be heard howling in the winter months.
Two Quotes for December
1.
It has been a blistery and challenging winter weather month in so many areas of the US, with everything from blizzards to freezing rain to dangerously chilling cold temperatures.
For those of you really feeling the wrath of it all, here’s a snippet from one of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh that will hopefully make you smile:
"Hallo, Eeyore," said Christopher Robin, as he opened the door and came out. "How are you?"
"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."
2.
Or, perhaps you’d rather take the perspective of comedian and actor Carl Reiner instead:
"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water."
Slowing Down: Try this for the month of January
Although this time of year can be especially challenging — especially when snow or ice hits — it can also be incredibly beautiful, as well as ephemeral. The shimmer of new or ice will disappear within days if not hours.
If you are getting hit with bad weather this month, take a moment to document what it looks, feels, and sounds like in the moment before it goes away.
This might involve taking your phone outdoors to photograph it (or if it’s simply too cold, photographing out your window), or trying a “listening” walk to hear what the sounds of snow, ice, or wind sounds like.
Or you might simply take a moment to journal the experience.
This time will pass and at some point in the future you will want to remember the details of what it felt like - for you, for your kids if you have them, and for the community you live in. There’s a distinct story to each winter storm. There will be a time you’ll want to tell it.
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And if are looking for a gift that reminds you to slow down in the coming year, please consider the gift of a shirt or mug from our “Slow the F*ck Down” campaign.
Credit to James Clear for his very useful 3-2-1 structure newsletter structure that inspired this post.
I work as an arborist so being outdoors everyday in the cold and snow isn't always like walking through a winter wonderland but this was a good reminder to appreciate the beauty around me even as I'm on the clock and pruning trees. Thanks!