Dead of Winter: Mid-January in the Wilderness

“It’s the dead of winter!” said Anthony to his wife, Alice. “Mid-January is the time when people want to hibernate, like the bears. It’s about as cold today as winter gets.” As he stepped outside on the wooden patio deck, there was a loud sound, like a gunshot. Suddenly, a huge crack appeared in the deck. “We’ll have to repair that in the spring,” he said. “Come outside. I see some deer.”

“Don’t feed them, honey,” Alice replied. “Their metabolisms are affected and they get over-active if we feed them this time of year. They need to eat natural food from the forest.”   

“How do you know so much about deer?”

“I grew up here, remember?” Alice quickly grabbed her coat.

“The deer are hiding in the trees beside that wooden fence." 

“They look healthy,” she replied. “Seeing deer in the dead of winter is one of the miracles that we have in this part of the country. That moon was huge last night. The sky looked like it had a million stars. It is so beautiful here!”

“Yes, it is. Probably more like a zillion.” He smiled knowing that they were both at peace after having moved out of the city into wilderness country. "City life was never like this."

“Wait until you see the northern lights, honey,” said Alice. “The sky literally dances with rainbows colors. Did you hear the wolves last night? When I went out for firewood, I could hear them howling in the distance.”

“Dear, you are such a brave soul. Grab your shovel, as we need to get the driveway cleared if we are going anywhere. Those drifts must be at least four feet deep now.”

“Let’s wait for the snowplow to come through, first. We can always use our skidoos,” replied Alice. “Maybe do some ice fishing, too?”

“Ice fishing?” asked Anthony. “Is there enough ice yet?”

“Of course, it’s the dead of winter!” Alice replied, with a smile.