Memoir (9) by Professor Joe Watkins, University of Arizona, USA
Okay, maybe not everyone in Sapporo was as excited to see snow as I was, but it was a great way to start December! And it’s snowed every day since November 30th – at least at my apartment.
The snowfall has made it a little bit easier to cross the field on my way to and from work. The ground is covered and a bit frozen, and so I don’t have to worry about muddy patches or wet grass. The people in the office are surprised that I still walk across the field instead of using the sidewalks and crosswalks, but I much prefer the stillness and crunchiness of the snow as I walk. I don’t have to worry about bicyclists or automobiles, and it is much less slippery on the snow than on the un-shoveled sidewalks, where a light powder of snow can hide icy patches.
One Friday afternoon, walking home, I watched my fox friend cavorting in the snow. It might not have been cavorting, per se, but it did have a little bit of a skip to its run. I saw it at first as it came out of a patch of weeds along a fenceline, and then watched as it moved across the field road that we had passed on earlier this year. I stood still as it stopped and watched me, then it walked briskly along the field before breaking into a run. It disappeared into another fenceline, and I didn’t see it again.
And this morning I can see the trails of the numerous trips it has taken in the field. The tracks in the snow can show me its general trails as well as the trails of other animals – small trails of a jumping field mouse, hopping tracks of a crow, dog tracks accompanying its master. These trails are easily missed and lost with the passage of the seasons, and so I appreciate reading the actions of the animals.
1. Fox running 2. Early morning snowscape