The Greenwater Report for November 25, 2002
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, November 25, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford
warmer	November 24th, 2002: I am writing this on Wednesday; we are going to be away again this weekend. It was above freezing when we got up and rose to about +4°. The wind came up in the middle of the day and really took the snow down. Our deck is pretty well clear, and there are wet spots all over the lake, often along a crack. There must be only one layer of ice so far.
zing	In past years, the lake ice sometimes made weird noises as it expanded and contracted. When there was little snow, it was a lovely “zinging” sound. I remember once Doreen and I went for a walk across the bare ice when it was singing; suddenly a crack formed between our feet, startling us. It turned out there were two or three layers of ice, and just one had cracked with a “Zing!”
ice moaning	On Monday night I went for a walk to see if I could see any meteor showers; I didn’t, possibly because the moon was so bright, but heard an odd moaning sound coming from the lake. I walked down to the edge and listened for a while. It would moan and groan, then there would be a muffled crashing sound followed by more moaning. The temperature had dropped about six degrees during the evening so expect the sound was from thermal shifting, muffled by the snow. It was loud enough that we could hear it in the house, over the noise from the TV. Eerie, but lovely! We opened our bedroom window and let it sing us to sleep.
high winds	The high winds of last weekend stripped a lot of the remaining leaves from the trees. It seems strange to have the snow littered with leaves! There are still lots left, though a few more blow off with every high wind.
deer coyote conflict	Bryan Grimson and friends were up here hunting. I told him about the deer and coyotes I had seen last week. He said he and Dave were out moving some hay bales. Suddenly, a coyote and deer came charging across the field towards them - the deer was chasing the coyote, trying to hit it with its front hooves. When they came between Bryan and Dave, the deer realized she may be in a dangerous position, so dithered, then wheeled and headed for the bush. Once the coyote realized she was running the other way, it took off after her!
few rabbits	There seem to be a lot of coyotes around, and not too many rabbits. Seems to me they would have to be pretty brave to tackle a fully grown deer, but if they are hungry enough, they would likely tackle anything!
good hunting	Bryan and friends hunted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; they got a young bull moose on their first day, and say they saw lots of tracks and animals. It must have been pleasant in the bush - not cold, and not enough snow to make walking difficult.
books for Christmas	If you are stumped for Christmas ideas, I still have some books left: “Aborigines of the PeiWei Trail” by Harold Baldwin; “Poems and Parodies on Homesteading Days in High Tor” by George Hayunga, and the first two Greenwater Report books. Look for them at Slobodian Pharmacy in Porcupine Plain, or Crawford’s Family Fashions in Kelvington.
	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg
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