Another change of scenery

The month I had asked for in my last posting is almost over, but the grace period didn’t last until now. Winter, after it gave us a taste of what it is capable of four weeks ago, kept coming back for little visits, almost as if it wanted to tease us. The snow melted, it was beautiful for a few days, so warm that I sat on the deck in the late afternoon sun for my cup of tea. The next day we’d see flakes swirling madly again, settling on the trees, slowly covering the – amazingly – still-green lawn. Until the beginning of this week even some geese seemed to remain hopeful, gathering in groups around small lakes with a bit of open water, huddling close in the ever-decreasing space. Now they, like the ducks and gulls that hung around still as well, have left. 

The black and white of the landscape is matched by the black and white of birds: instead of robins shaking out their wings at the very top of the highest spruce tree in the bush across from the house I see magpies gathering now, their beautiful metallic blue and teal feathers dulled to charcoal in the distance. Crows and ravens join them sporadically, raiding the dog dish or cleaning up what the hunters left behind. November is hunting season, and pickup traffic has increased considerably on country roads, especially in late afternoon, guys – mostly guys, anyway - scouting for white tail or mule deer, moose or elk. It gets dark so early, now that we have changed back to standard time: on overcast days dusk seems to start around 4:30 already.

There was still some hope that a few warm days might bring open weather again, but since Wednesday this possibility seems to be rather remote: a storm dumped anywhere between 15 and 35 cm of snow in the area, aided by strong winds, and traffic turned into a nightmare on highways as well as in the city. Since temperatures plummeted as well, with lows around -20 Celsius last night and highs not much more than -15 road conditions have remained poor, a thick bumpy layer of hard packed snow-turned-to-ice not likely to disappear unless it warms up considerably.

Many retirees pack up and move south around this time of year, exchanging the bleakness of the snow covered prairies for the much warmer climes of Arizona, California, or Florida. We are not yet retired, but we, too, have discovered the allure of shortening the long winter a bit. 

After exploring some of Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica in the last few years we have chosen Ecuador as this year’s destination. We are leaving on Monday and will arrive in Bogotá, Colombia on Tuesday. From there we plan to take the bus to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, like other long bus rides we have taken in South and Central America at the very least an interesting experience, with the possibility of real adventure. We will meet up with Ecuadorian friends in Quito before we’ll be on our way to other parts of the country, with a trip to the Galapagos Islands most certainly one of the highlights. Other than that, our schedule is wide open, and we’ll let things unfold as they may. 

What might expect us this time? A beautiful country, an amazing wealth of plants and birds, an ancient culture – that much is for certain. As for the encounters, the people and things that will touch me, I will try to travel with open eyes and an open mind and heart, knowing that I will return home richer than I left.

Thus “Musings from the Farm” will once again turn into “Musings from a Journey”. I will try to send updates when I can.

As for the farm: it is safely put to bed for the winter, sleeping under its blanket of snow. On days like today, sun sparkling on the tiny scales of hoarfrost fallen from the trees, staying home doesn’t seem like such a bad alternative, but the forecast is calling for more snow around the middle of the week, so we better be on our way.