In the Basin, the seasons change as quickly as the weather!  I left for 12 days for a repeat of fall foliage in Virginia, and when I returned  to sleet and rain, it was clearly November, the season of charcoal brown and hunter orange.  My first morning back at Basin Pond produced snow and a brisk wind that made stucco out of the pond’s surface.  I saw something rather large swimming across the pond, so I paused to watch. A second deer appeared on the far shore and then plunged into the cold waters.  We watched them swim across the Pond, hoping no one was at the hunting camp to capitalize on the moment. Later we found their tracks down by the hunting camp, springing over the slushy shore and side by side trotting up into the woods. With such chilly weather, we speculated that maybe it was coyotes that chased them to the water’s edge.

The next day, the pond froze.  If there was any doubt it was ice reflecting the November sky, a midnight snow settled on the pond, painting it white.  A walk down to the pond verified the ice was in on November 13 this year. Not very good news for the guys at the hunting camp who use canoes to get over to their tree stands.

I keep looking across the pond to see if any deer venture out.  Having witnessed a magical moment, my eyes yearn for another glimpse of such beauty.   It’ll be a few months before they swim across the pond again — lots of skating, skiing and ice-biking till then!