The snow that the forecasters (having once again misread the entrails of an owl) said would arrive about six o'clock and not amount to much, started in about two o'clock and has more than slightly surpassed its allotted total. About an hour ago I set out for a walk on the deserted streets. As I gazed at the flakes gliding down through the glow of the street lights, I realized that I was experiencing a quiet beauty that is only granted to us a few times in life. I have taken many walks in the snow, but can only recall two others that provided the same sense of peace and the same all-enveloping comfort as this. Once was in the middle 1950s when I had gone downtown with my parents to see the Christmas lights strung across the main street of our small town. The snow fell with a gentleness that allowed it to remain on the pine roping that was strung between the street lights as well as on the decorations suspended from that roping and on the lights that were entwined with it. The other time was when my son was small and we set out with me pulling him on the sled that was mine as a boy. Sorry to take up your time with my nostalgia, but it did me good to be able to share tonight's experience and the memories it evoked. Best to all, John

hey john, it makes sense to me to share some good feelings too.

every once in a while, it does th body good to hear some good news versus the usual.

thanks for sharing and reminding me of my first hunt in the snow.

5S
I'm just north of Des Moines and I'll bet we got our predicted 6 inches. kwg

I knew somehow by your 'subject-line' that this was a post I wanted to open...

I too have experienced "that"- and the same feelings, in the early '50's and many, many times in the years since- in good old cold North Dakota.

Still magic ... Thanks.

John: I too have had times like that, but of late, due to older age, I hate the freakin' snow and cold. I do appreciate your sentaments, wait til you get old, it changes.
Nevertheless, enjoy the beauty of nature and a quiet time in the snow.

i dont know about the whole getting old thing, but one of my best memories was elk hunting in the snow. just sitting there in the quiet and cold watching life happen for many small critters, and even a few deer. no elk though. but still a great time.

Couldn't have said it any better myself, but I too appreciate John's post.

Paul

Ya, I used to catch snowflakes on my tongue too,, way back

i was there to catch them with my 30-06

I love snow.......living in it ....playing in it....working in it. One of my best times is a good snow storm, late at night, working for the highway maintenance contractor, plowing 6-8" off with hardly any traffic, huge plume of snow billowing out the right window of a Peterbuilt tandem with a load of sand on for ballast.
Good times.!
Thanks for the good thread.
Dave

I pity anyone who can't appreciate the simple pleasures and beauty life has to offer. How else can you find peace in this world? Good thread here.

We can't buy a snow storm down here anymore. It has been five years since our last significant snow and it looks like winter is over down here. Hey if you are gonna give me 105 deg in the summer as least give me a good snow or two in the winter!

I'm enjoying the same snow, and it was 60 last weekend. Don't count your winter out just yet!

Beat me to it, 4570. I was gonna ask him did he stick his tongue out and catch some of the flakes? Loved doing that as a kid. Still do it when the flakes are huge and lazy.

Huntboykins, You have a point but don't forget that this is winter in North Carolina and if you don't like the weather just wait five min. and it will change.
Will you be at the Greensboro gun show this weekend?

Have you ever been walking in a heavy snow with no wind? Just the snow falling so straight and hard that it actually creates a hiss as the flakes hit?

Or, sitting on stand when it's dropping an inch an hour and you just know the deer are bedded down and you're wasting your time, but you can't bring yourself to pack it in?

Dan

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been out hunting and heard the hiss of a heavy snow. Here in Kansas the wind seems to always be blowing so it's rare when you get the total still with a heavy snow that allows the hiss. Makes for a great time out side.

I've hunted in that kind of snowfall. Like you say, the hiss is so loud it's eerie.

In an hour and a half, I had so much snow built up on the shoulders of my Filson Mackinaw, I couldn't see when I turned my head to look down a deer trail to my left.

It was great being in the woods, but not so much for successful hunting. That is if successful is only counted by game in the bag.

Mark

Hope that the local prognosticators are not using Spotted Owls entrails for their rituals.

We don't get a lot of snow down here, but I did do a 7 mile hike in the swamp north of town, which gave me a much needed opportunity for contemplation

My brother and I were on a mid-winter camping/small game snowshoe trip. I went out alone after dark on my 'shoes. Starlit and moonlit sky, soft surface snow and the Adirondacks. Yeah, the feeling of Peace was powerful.

When I was little, and the winter was bitter cold- I remember my friend catching snow flakes on his tongue. But I topped that.

I caught his dad's car bumper on my tongue.

Keith - for some reason, I never think to try and catch snowflakes on my tongue.
Dan - I have done the sit on stand (kind of a strange term, huh?) with snow piling up on me. One time I would stand up every half hour to shake off the cones from my shoulders and head - must have looked like a gnome. Like others have said, I never have had much luck in those conditions, but somehow it just seemed right to keep sitting.

Great post !! And they say a pic says a thousand words . Not in this case. I've got a couple that come close for me , but still don't capture the feeling as well as you did . And yes I've had to wipe the snow off the barrel because it had built up higher than the front sight.

Those are the magic times that live in you memory and enrich your life. Thanks for sharing, brought back a few nice memories for me.

Good post John, really good. I don't have any snow memories that are worth poop. I do have a few magic moments though. Never will forget years ago one night I heard geese. We don't get many geese that stop but lots go over on the way to the coast. I knew these geese I heard were low and I ran out with my shotgun to get me a goose.
Never before or since have I seen anything like it. They must have been using my hill as a marker. There was a pretty cool wind from the north blowing and thin clouds under a full moon were over running the cold air layer.
The flocks were following one after the other. They'd stray right or left maybe a quarter mile and then come back. Low and talking, talking, talking. Canadas and snows and blues. Once in a while a flight of ducks would buzz by. All going south and just sailing along all peacefull like. I forgot I had a shotgun in my hands. I just sat on the tailgate of my pickup and watched and listened. Wondering what they were saying, where they had been, what they had seen, where they were going. How many did I see I have no idea. How many is a hundred thousand, a million. I don't know. I know I sat there for three hours and they were still going over when I went in and went to bed.


BCR

Guys, I am truly honored by the kind responses. My best to each and every one of you. John

John, thanks for that. I'm a nostalgic sort and have been in that scene you described and more importantly felt what you felt.

My wife and I are in the throws of organizing our 40th class reunion and in the same vein the names and faces of long ago carry with them scenes, the music of the 60's, experiences, smells, emotions, games, and teachers, all of the old video of the past recorded in my memory, continuallly played, rewound, and played again. Now that all seems like a dream that I like to think of as a much more innocent and simpler time but a mostly very good one, Pheasant hunts in powder snow with no more worry than the social studies test the next day - multiple choice; I can wing it. Let's go.

I told you I was nostalgic sort

McCabe bled out in the snow...

I remember many deer hunting days in Western New York where the snow piled deep on my shoulders. On one such day I got busted by two deer that dove over the edge of a steep hill. I leaned on a tree for two hours watching that edge. At about 4:00, just a hair before dark, a lone buck came back up. I thought he was a spike when I touched the trigger of the slug gun. He ran in a 20 yard circle and disappeared in the deep snow when he fell. When I reached in and pulled up his head I was pleased to see that he was a forkhorn. Great day. My Dad was mildly irritated that I was late getting back to the truck until he realized that I was dragging. Tonight the rain falling steadily on the roof will be what lulls me to sleep. It's the little things in life that matter the most and that I find so rewarding.

A driver from the East

Super Post, this,....saved all day, unopened,.....

knew from the title,....etc.

thank you, 5sDad.

.......we should gen up a thread about the "Russeling" ( not rustleing you old Cow thieves)...from the Northern Lights.

Again, thanks.

GTC

One of my most memorable life events is not about snow or game we see or hunt, but it will always remain one the the most amazing occurrences I have ever experienced.

My house at one time was on the edge of growing development and behind it was a field of approximately 30-40acres. The fire flies that year were many, but one summer night I looked out the door and the yard was just full of them. I walked out and was struck with there numbers. Then I looked over at the field and it was literally lit up. I walked out into the middle of it and they were thick. I sat there for at least an hour and saw a show that was the equivalent of any Aurora Borealis. Close, far, low, high, flying, stationary, light on and off they were everywhere. I don't know what a million fire flies look like but I don't think I would be exaggerating with that amount. I have always thought I could have read a book by the light they gave off that night and I still believe it to be true.

Today the field is gone and they never return to my yard in significant numbers, but every summer I still look for them and remember that special night.

John: Thank you for a wonderful post. My best snow experience: seeing the full moon reflecting on the 1/4" crust of ice that had formed on snow that covered a series of small descending hills. I could see the town lights below me. The way that cold air carrys sound puts the silence inside us.