Up North Off The Grid

ALL ABOUT SNOW                                                                          

by Viki Mather

Snow! Don’t you just love it! In case you hadn’t noticed, I do. Snow in February is perfect. Snow is also good in late November, all of December, January, March and into early April. All the creatures that stay in the forest for the winter have adapted to snowy winters. Including me.

Snow is quiet, snow is warm, and snow blankets the forest floor, keeping the frost from going too deeply into the ground. When temperatures plummet to the low  -20s in the middle of February, we can crawl into a snow cave to find the relatively warm temperature of –5 C.

Individual snowflakes hold an endless fascination. The big fluffy ones that fall on a quiet winter’s day invite closer observation. Is every one of them different from all the others? I look out the window at what must be several hundred billion snowflakes - on the ground, on the trees, on the hillside, and even in the air. Snow is falling gently as I type. Is every snowflake unique?

I have a snowflake calendar over my desk this year. Twelve pages of gorgeous snowflakes – enlarged to allow detailed daydreaming of the mystery of snow. It is easy to get lost in the intricate beauty of the photographs. To wonder endlessly at each delicate crystal…how can there be so much detail in something so microscopic?

Scientists have been asking this question for hundreds of years. They have been photographing these jewels for more than a hundred years. The first photographer of snowflakes was Wilson A. Bentley in Vermont. He wrote:

“Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”

He recorded 5000 individual portraits of snowflakes - no easy task with the cameras available in 1890. His dedication to the art of snowflake photography ensured that the beauty of those 5000 would not be lost forever.

Bentley’s dedication continues with scientists and photographers today. You can learn just about anything you ever wanted to know about snowflakes by going to www.snowflakes.com. Including the answer to the timeless question of “Is every snowflake different from all the others?  Snow researcher and photographer Kenneth G. Libbrecht says: it's unlikely that any two complex snow crystals, out of all those made over the entire history of the planet, have ever looked completely alike. And he demonstrates the math to prove the point.

I’ve got to go outside now. I’m taking a small magnifying glass out to observe those big flakes as they fall gently all around. I don’t want to miss out on any of the crystalline beauty, so eloquently described by Bentley.

 
Viki Mather is owner of Kukagami Lodge, a northern Ontario wilderness resort at the southern boundary of the Temagami forest. Web: www.kukagamilodge.com, email: lodge@kukagami.infosathse.com Viki has lived in the wilderness for 26 years, without electricity or running water. Read these columns monthly to discover wonderful ways to live in harmony with nature, bring edible wilds into your kitchen, thrive without plugging into the grid, and enjoy a healthier life.