Waterway Wonders – Winter Fun on Our Watershed

Waterway Wonders, Musings on the magic we have here.

 Each month, free-lance writer Lynn Kuhns will take a look at one seasonal, every-day or newsworthy facet of the Fox/Winnebago waterways and offer something somewhere between an essay and a poem that may touch on your life experiences — memories, concerns, dreams and missions. Lynn welcomes your response via e-mail to writewoodz@charter.net.

Winter Fun on Our Watershed

Some people just can’t stand winter in Wisconsin. Our snowbird neighbors choose to fly away.  “We’re outta here. Not coming back ‘til mid-June.”

Some who stay don’t like going outdoors unless they have to. Because… well… that’s where winter lurks. Threatens. Ice. Snow. Wind. Hardly any sunshine. Nasty!

But, some of us know that outside is where winter plays. And, so can we. Invited. Fun. Adventure. Freedom. Sun enough. Great!

You already know that fitness ¾ good physical, spiritual and often mental health ¾ depends on activity. Being out in nature helps even more. And our amazing Winnebago-land waterways give us a free and generous platform that adds beauty, adventure and all kinds of other meanings to our winter experience.

I ask you to consider that winter can be fun. [Then again, you may already be having a ball, doing things out there, and can teach all of us a thing or two.]

But for many, yes… your powerboats, your kayaks, your fishing poles, those hiking boots, swim noodles and other toys of summer are packed away. You still can see their colors, feel their sunny tugs, hear the hum of the engines, and yearn to play. But that’s another day, far away.

If you shy from nature in winter, you may instead use the gym more often, read more books, bake more cookies, dig into seed catalogs, carve more decoys, watch more TV or find other ways to lay back and while away the hours until spring frees you to pump up for summer.

But you don’t have to wait. You can get outside… on the lakes, along the rivers and marshes in the great, cold and sweetly quiet outdoors.

Winter activities that can work on or near our waterways and wetlands include hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, bike-riding (fat tires or others), hiking, bird-watching, photography (try maco), dog-walking, ice-sailing, camping and snowman-building ¾ as well as such Olympics-glamorous activities as cross-country skiing, skating and hockey.

You can research/Google those and other activities on the web or in a library. You can talk to your outdoorsy neighbors and those experts in bait

Ice fishing? Yes, even when the sun’s arc barely skims the southern horizon, even when the waterways we love are covered with several feet of ice and snow… and who knows what will blow in next.

and sporting-goods shops. Or keep it simple, and just get out and have fun any way you want.

A caveat: While you’re researching, please check on safety cautions, related to ice on lakes and ponds, and other winter conditions. Be smart, stay safe and take what you need, no matter what conditions arise. Always check with those who know.

Talk about the weather: Winter is anything but the same-old cold-and-ice when you actually get out there in it. It changes ¾ with thaws and freezes, precipitation variances, sunshine/clouds, time of day, wind/calm. Winter’s whimsical nature can make it even more get-it-while-you-can fun.

You can skate on a smooth ice-over channel one day, and the next, it’s all snowed over and you can get out your snowshoes or cross-country skis. That weekend, you may hear that the perch are biting in some secret spot, and off you go with your auger, tip-ups and jigging poles. Just be ready.

Ready with your clothing:  If you grew up like I did, muffed-up with puffy, wooly-thick snow pants, Army-surplus boots, a Mom-knit scarf and such, it’s refreshing to see how easy and it is, to stay dry and warm now. Each sport has its demands and style, but in general, the layers, the quality of sub-freezing rated water- and wind-resistant outerwear makes the wintry outdoors more accessible while keeping us more comfortable.

We often define ourselves by what we do NOT do. Why? Too old…too busy… too cheap… too tired… don’t know. Winter’s added challenges of staying warm, upright and alive may only intensify our reasons to avoid outdoor recreation.

“I never go out on the lake ice.” You can try walking with a buddy, along the shore. Find a place where those who know declare the ice to be safe.

A wintry walk on ice and snow carries sweet simplicity. The trees are bare; the motorized recreational busy-ness of our waterways is quieted. Our watershed certainly is not as crowded as it is in summer. We can relax and be comforted within all that just-white. Seems almost heavenly.

But look, listen, and soon something else will sneak into your awareness. It’s not “just/only” snow, but something alive under the shifting winter sky and its wind.

You can see and feel fresh textures and habits of drifting on that huge expanse of ice, of showing animal tracks in marshes, of magnifying birds’ songs, of humming with the heartbeat of silence along the sheltered shores.

The DNR offers a guideline to judge the safety of fresh cold ice. It goes as followed:
• 1 inch of ice = Stay off
• 4 inches of ice = Needed for safe ice fishing
• 5 inches of ice = Needed for snowmobiling
• 8 inches of ice = Needed to support the weight of a car or light truck
• 10 inches of ice = Needed to support a medium weight truck
The DNR adds if you don’t know the depth of the ice, don’t go onto the surface. If you venture on it, wear a life jacket or flotation coat and carry ice hooks and rope gear.

Take a walk with a camera; try close-up lenses to capture berries frozen on their stems or cattails’ shadows, creatively bent, cross-crossed. While winter’s days are short, the sunlight and its play on ice and snow can be beautiful¾ especially during that “golden hour” after sunrise, before sunset.

Consider bird watching, or just walking in peace. Then, go home and maybe write, or talk story about what it was like, out there in winter.

“Whoa. I don’t know how to cross-country ski.” Why not learn ¾ on lake paths set by snowmobilers, or on groomed park trails. It’s great exercise. Even when it seems you’re just shuffling along.

“Snowmobiles are not for me.” Try  riding with someone. Get to know the routes.
Ice fishing… sturgeon spearing? Just try it. It’s your winter heritage, ready to embrace.

Start easy. With short walks, for example. Buy simple gear, maybe from garage sales. You’ll harden, relax, enjoy as the days pass and you re-define yourself in other positive ways.

Consider, too, the enjoyable social aspects of just winter-walking together, building a snowman on the lake, writing/telling stories, or learning to ice fish with a neighbor. How about hosting a winter BBQ jamboree on the lake or near some river’s shore.

Hey. Do you see that couple, cross-country skiing out there along the lake, shore? See those snowshoe tracks, those tip-ups set up further out there? See that snowman, half fallen as the wind tags him just offshore? See those snowshoeing photos your grandchild posted?

You can do that. You can. Don’t wait.