Black ice – no, not the type that forms on the roads from car exhaust on frigid winter days. It’s the kind that forms on lakes with very few impurities. So few that the ice is clear and appears black because the water below absorbs almost all of the light. Black ice is a treat to walk on and explore. Even though I dread the onset of our long winters here in the Upper Midwest (read my mournful post and poem here), there are things my family and I look forward to every year. We enjoy sledding, cross-country skiing (read about one of our favorite trips here), snowboarding, playing board games on cold winter nights, and taking our daily walks on a frozen lake down the road. One week ago, our family cautiously stepped out on that very lake as we had seen other footprints appear on the lightly snow-covered ice the week before. We walked out about ten feet, brushed off what little snow had blown down the lake, and peered into the ice. We were thrilled to see that the ice was clear. We could see little air bubbles trapped in the ice more than 8″ down – it was safe to walk on. My husband and I gave the kids the okay to run and play, and we had the dogs sit so we could let them off their leashes. The dogs’ tails revealed their excitement as they sat waiting to hear the click of the leash that would tell them that they were free to run too. In an instant, two black fluff balls took off after the kids – running, bounding, and knocking into one another as they played along the way. Not more than a minute later, Brook, our almost 13-year old pup, came to a screeching halt. Ayla, our 1-year old, was too late. I had to laugh when I saw her hit a glossy, black sheet of ice. She tried to dig her nails in, but that didn’t work. She tried to brace herself by getting low, but that didn’t work. She also tried to run off of the evil slick stuff, but she lost her footing. Ayla went for a sprawling slip ‘n slide across the inky, smooth lake ice. Once Ayla found the reprieve of snow again, she stood up, looked at what had taken her for a ride, and proceeded to run after the kids again – this time avoiding each and every black ice spot on the lake. The kids spent the next half hour slipping and sliding on the ice while the dogs played and tracked animal scents they found throughout the cattails. After the kids had depleted their energy, the whole family began doing what we love most – exploring. My family and I went from black ice to black ice to see what we could see. The ice held many beautiful treasures, and wonderful surprises. Intricate fern-like patterns graced the surface of the ice. Bubbles of all sizes sat suspended in the ice giving the ice depth and character. Large cracks had powerfully ripped across the lake, and we could see all the beautiful ripples, fissures, and lines in these breaks that spanned the full depth of the ice. I wish my camera had been able to adequately capture all that our eyes had seen. Aside from the beauty that the ice held in itself, it revealed other surprises too, such as fish, snail shells, and weeds that expelled their oxygen in thousands of little bubbles. My daughter also found a little honey bee curled up on the snow as we walked. She told me that she found the warmest spot to lay it on – a black rock. Several holes in the ice that were tucked into the cattails were found by my son. We can only imagine that the local muskrats are keeping exit and entrance holes into the water open. They must stay busy! My family has spent hours on the lake each day for the past week. We walk, talk, explore, throw tennis balls for the dogs, slide on the ice, take pictures, and take in as much fresh, cold air as we can. As much as I dread our long winter spell before the cold hits, I love our cold-weather adventures once winter does finally set in. What are your favorite winter activities? If you don’t have cold winters where you are, what would you like to experience most if you could visit our cold winter wonderland?
kids
“Jessie Diggins Coming Through!”: The Best Cross-Country Ski Trip Ever
“Jessie Diggins coming through!” my daughter exclaimed. “Go Jessie go!” I played along as I heard the rhythmic swish, swish, swish of my 7-year old daughter’s cross-country skis passing me on my left. “Do you think I could be in the Olympics one day, Mom?” she yelled over her shoulder as she continued to pull away from me. “OF COURSE YOU COULD!” I replied – hoping she could hear me up ahead. “Here she goes again!” my 9-year old son said as he took off to race his sister. My daughter has been practicing her cross-country ski sprints ever since that historic cross-country ski finish by USA’s Jessie Diggins – I’m sure my daughter is not the only one. Who wouldn’t be pumped up, motivated, excited, or ready to try cross-country skiing after watching Jessie Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall take the gold in the Ladies’ Team Sprint Free Final in Pyeongchang (the first gold medal for USA women in cross-country skiing). The jostling for first place between the USA, Sweden, and Norway, the final push for the last 100 meters, the NBC announcer’s extraordinarily excited commentary, the win by a half a ski length, the yell by Jessie as she crossed the line, and the tackle by teammate Kikkan Randall as Jessie collapsed in exhaustion led to the most exciting finish of all Olympic activities – well, it was for my family and me. This finish had everyone in our house up off the couch yelling, cheering, and celebrating the epic win. Check out the excitement in the video below. As my son and daughter skied back to me, I asked them “So, how far do you want to ski today?” “Let’s ski all the way across the lake!” my son suggested. “Yes, can we, Mom?” my daughter asked. “Hey, I’m game if you two are up for it.” I answered. “YES!” yelled my son. “I’m so excited!” said my daughter. This winter my kids have had fun making distance goals each time we ski the lake. The furthest we had skied was to the spot my kids named “The Peninsula” – a total of less than two miles round-trip. Skiing across the lake means doubling our previous distance. On this day, the sun was out, the temperature was perfect (about 35F) and we had the lake to ourselves – not a car, fish house, or person in sight. We had just a few inches of powdery snow on top of the foot of crusty snow that lay heavy atop the thick bed of ice (we’ve had a cold winter), so the skiing was fast. As we set out on our trek across the frozen lake, my kids had energy – they were excited to attempt their longest ski yet. I can’t tell you how many times they both talked about how excited they were, how happy they were to be skiing, and how they couldn’t wait to tell Dad how far they skied. But, with kids, the journey is much more than how far they ski. On our way across the lake, the kids noticed a wild rabbit mostly buried and dead in the snow, so we had to stop and discuss why this may have happened. “Do you think it was run over by a snowmobile?” my daughter asked. “I doubt it, but you never know.” I answered. My son then noticed dog tracks next to the rabbit. “Look!” He yelled. “Look at those tracks. Do you think those are dog tracks. Maybe they’re coyote tracks. Do you think some type of dog killed the rabbit?” “Again, it could be. But, I think that if a dog or coyote killed the rabbit they’d probably run off with it and eat it.” I replied. “Perhaps the rabbit got lost in one of our recent snowstorms and passed away in the middle of the lake.” I offered. “Poor rabbit.” my kids said. About 20 minutes later, we spotted a tiny spider darting around on the snow. “Now, how do you suppose this little spider made it out onto the middle of the lake?” I asked. “Mom, there is land all around the lake – it could have come from anywhere!” my son said almost exasperated. I laughed and said, “Well, yes, but that is a long way for a little critter to walk.” We came up with the possibilities that the spider may have: blown to the middle of the lake from a tree bordering the lake hitched a ride on a bird and dropped to the lake dropped off of someone’s vehicle or ice house We were left wondering what the little spider would eat while he was out there. After about an hour and a half of skiing, exploring, and lots of conversing, we hit our destination. The kids rejoiced and fell onto the snow to cool down as soon as they reached the far side of the lake. Both of them took a small piece of bark that had fallen off of a nearby tree and put it in their pockets to commemorate their achievement, and asked for a picture so that we could prove that we had made it across the lake. The journey back was a little bit slower, as we took a couple of breaks, and skied through an obstacle course (the car wheel tracks and skid marks from pulling ice houses across the lake had made for some fun hills and valleys in the snow). But our conversation was just as entertaining as it was on the first part of our journey. “This is just the perfect day” “I’m so hungry and thirsty” “I hope Dad is going to go grocery shopping soon because we’re going to eat everything in the entire house” “The sun feels so warm” “What do you think sugar ants think when they see us” “If you think that would be bad, what do you think sugar ants think when they see an actual giant” “What if
Tadpoles: Catching, Raising, and Observing Metamorphosis
Think back to your childhood and recall some of your happiest moments. What were you doing? Where were you? Who were you with (if anyone)? Last evening, my family was out on a late evening walk to go look at the fireflies that grace us with their diamond-like sparkling at dusk on these warm summer nights. The wetlands near our house seem almost magical with the thousands of fireflies that surround us as we stroll down the path. The sight of the twinkling fireflies always inspires my daughter to break out in her sweet, made-up songs while the rest of us listen, smile, and walk quietly beside her. As we made our way back home, we all started to talk about what makes us happy (I guess the fireflies inspired us). All of our answers contained one commonality: being outside. Happiness for me is hiking, spending time at the cabin, and gardening; my husband said playing soccer, fishing, and camping; my daughter piped in with spending time with the chickens; and my son said exploring or treasure hunting. Now, my son doesn’t go treasure hunting for items like money, jewelry, etc., he, for the most part, hunts for natural treasures. Like tadpoles! Catching Tadpoles Late in the spring, when the edges of the lakes or creeks begin to warm up from the sun, tadpoles start to emerge from their eggs and swarm the shallow waters. This year my son had his trusty sidekick (my daughter) join him in his treasure hunt for tadpoles. The two amigos collected the supplies needed for the hunting expedition and set out on their tadpole hunt. Supplies needed for tadpole hunting: bucket minnow net (using hands works too) With feet sloshing in and out of the shallow, warm water, my son and daughter slowly and carefully tiptoed through the marshy edge of the lake. Within minutes I hear: “Oh my gosh! There are millions of tadpoles in here! Mom, you have got to come and see this!” I could read the excitement on my kids’ faces as they scooped up tadpoles and plopped them in the bucket. My son also pulled out some type of aquatic grass to add to the bucket, not only to give the tadpoles shade if they needed it, but to give them food and oxygen too. After collecting quite a few tadpoles, we brought the bucket home and constructed a nice home for our tadpoles to grow in. Building A Make-shift Tadpole Pond A tadpole home needs: Fresh water from a lake, pond, or creek (tap water has too many chemicals for tadpoles to live in). A large, shallow container (we use an old saucer sled). Rocks or other items that break the surface of the water (when the tadpoles morph into frogs or toads, they need a way to get out of the water and breath air). Food such as algae, natural organic matter that has decomposed on the floor of the lake, and other aquatic vegetation such as duckweed (most of these things can be found in the environment you found the tadpoles living in). Observation After bringing the tadpoles home, my children decided to explore the tadpole water as they added the tadpoles to their make-shift pond. For hours, the two of them sat exploring the creatures in the water with their net. Every new organism was put in a separate clear container for observation. They found, snails, clams, minnows, tiny water bugs the size of a deer tick, and a fresh water shrimp! We have had the tadpoles in their pond for over a month now. According the Minnesota DNR, Minnesota frog and toad species can take a little less than two months and up to two years to make the metamorphosis from tadpole to adult frog or toad. Within the past month most of our tadpoles have begun to grow their legs and arms, and some have morphed from the aquatic vegetarian with tails and gills, to omnivorous toadlets (that eat insects) with limbs and lungs. The toads you see above still need to develop their tough bumpy skin, and at this stage, they are smaller than my pinky fingernail. How is the rest of the pond life fairing? The duckweed in our make-shift pond has at least tripled in number, the aquatic grass plant is still healthy, and the shrimp, minnows, snails, and other aquatic species are alive and well. We have ourselves a healthy microcosm we get to observe each and every day. What a fun and interesting learning tool! Microcosms are a self-contained model of something that is much bigger in size. Our microcosm is a pond, complete with tadpoles, shrimp, minnows, aquatic plants, snails, and mud. We’ve also had rain that continues to fill our pond with natural water a few times per week. This year, our pond has been completely self-sustaining. After setting up the pond, we’ve had to put no work into it. The only work we do is to sit and gratefully observe. Embark On A Treasure Hunt For Tadpoles Seeing the complete metamorphosis from tadpole to toad has been so much fun for our whole family. Once the last toad leaves our pond, we will return the water and the rest of the pond inhabitants back into the lake. I urge you to go outside on a treasure hunt of your own in search of tadpoles. Then you can enjoy a summer full of exploration, transformation, learning, and excitement by the side of your own little pond.