The Colors of Winter

With my mind’s eye still craving the vivid palette of autumn, I set out this past week on several hikes to discover some of the Central New York Land Trust’s other preserves. (If you weren’t aware, the land trust owns most of Baltimore Woods as well as thousands of acres of key habitat and natural areas around the region – check out their website at www.cnylandtrust.org.)

I first trekked through the birch-hemlock bottomlands of Elbridge Swamp - really only accessible when winter cold freezes over the tangle of streams and seeps. Such a beautiful place! Whiskey Hollow was next on my list, with a quiet stroll along a hemlock and oak covered ridge, and a view down into a trickling stream.

As I said, my eye was still craving autumn, but winter had come with its simplified colors that can be difficult to recognize (much less appreciate) at first…ready or not!

With that, I offer a quote from Edwin Way Teale’s book, Wandering Through Winter, accompanied by some photographs that bring forth the beauty of this subdued winter palette.

The red of osier, the green of pine, the pale tan of winter leaves on sapling beeches, the blue of late afternoon shadows on the snow, and the play of sunrise and sunset tinting across the mantled fields – such are the colors of…winter.   

- Edwin Way Teale

And truly, it is beautiful…

Blog post by Tom Meier