Passing Currents
E a g l e S t u d i o s / w w w. e a g l e - s t u d i o s . c o m
The seasons, the reasons we love Wolf River serenity
H
ey— don’t we have it good? It’s an ever-changing banquet to nourish our souls and senses, a forever-morphing setting fit for our outdoor adventures, a relentless challenge for our abilities to plan, and, at times, to survive. All in one place, over nothing but time 34 | Wolf River country • S p r i n g
2010
and the sun’s abridged southward arc. Here in Wolf River Country, the season from summer’s end to winter’s fade always kicks butt, sometimes soothes the soul and certainly can ruffle the flabby boredom that creeps in with monotony. First autumn… then winter... and finally… spring’s bliss and the early
walleye run. Remember how it goes? Sure, but you’ll also recall that you can never count on it ever being the same. First, the hickory nuts and leaves start to fall as the air chills more with the night. The lakes and rivers recede some and clear up. Then, the first tender nip of frost, then maybe a late hard rain and more iced air, and too soon the trees, even the willows, are mostly bare. We see more sky and feel a cleaner sun and truer wind. Harvest, Hunter’s, White, Bitter and Wolf moons rise above us. Some ice forms first over riverbank rocks and along the marsh grass, and one day, there’s some more ice reaching out from, and butting up to the lake’s edge. Then more and thicker ice that the dog can walk out on, and now we can. At first, some timid snow had wiggledanced down in a cute tease, then it came sideward, then it slammed us. Then in drifts it built inches, sometimes with a topping of ice. Winter has arrived in Wolf River Country. “Transitions” is far too gentle a word to explain what happens from end of summer to winter’s further edge. Our world transforms from lush, verdant farmlands and rich, almost steamy woodlands to raw-white life-sucking tundra. The lakes become immobile; snow is everywhere. w w w.w o l f r i v e r c o u n t r y.c o m