Welcome February, the month of hearts and chocolates, and a “full snow” moon.

We reentered winter, as a storm came grinding in from the southwest. With January almost gone, the upper Trail region finally got an addition to its oft smudged old white blanket. 

The month of the “full wolf” moon has turned fickle as it relates to weather conditions.

Life along the upper Trail remains seasonal in one aspect and puny in another. The past week found the region again hunkered down amidst its usual sub-zero character.

As the northland is a week into another loop around old Sol,”a belated happy New Year wish comes to one and all from the Wildersmith two.

Days of anticipation, cinnamon, chocolate and joy are finally here ….Pre-Christmas congregating has been going on for days and days since Thanksgiving and now is the time for the excitement to get serious as the Christian welcoming is again renewed.

T’was the week before Christmas, and all through the forest, Winter has finally settled before us! 

Since the first of December, it’s as if someone just flipped a switch, and the fall season was gone. With a warmer-than-usual November spoiling us, the last lap of 2009 grabbed a hold and folks out this way have been shocked back to reality.

The wilderness rendition of holiday decorating has taken on a more serious note since last we met on the radio. A white blanket of snow has been spread through the upper Trail. Several light doses have layered up to five or six inches in most places, flocking a zillion pines to look like a seasonal Gunflint greeting card.

Appropriately, the last segment of 2009 serves up a double-cheese whammy of northern lunar brilliance. As this column heads off into cyberspace, the universe celebrates the coming of the full cold moon.

The weather for Thanksgiving week in the northland continues to be other than normal. El Nino is right on track as experts have predicted, sending wave after wave of warmth along the Canadian border states right into our territory. We remain gray and mucky.