Cinnamon and I went to the island

 This is our little island in the middle of the wetland. Several trees have fallen over. It looks like good habitat for one critter or another. I hadn't been able to make it out there as the ice was uncertain. Jan. 8th I ventured forth with Cinnamon. 

 It is quite pretty, and raw, and this was prior to the knee-deep snow we had. 

Cinnamon thought it fun.

I could go and scrape off the LDD moth eggs. 

He went up the tree!

"Wait for meeeeee!!!!"

In the middle of the wetland, he climbed a tree, and was watching something. "You're on your own, Mummy!" I hope it was a deer or something. He is quite alert. This would have been a great photo of him, except for autofocusing on the foreground! 

First he led me down the deer path, they he climbed a tree. He was looking at something. I figure a deer, or a coyote!

 

Cinnamon wetland tree from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I went walkies alone Monday, it's just too deep for Cinnamon. (Although Daisy would trod in my snowshoe steps!) He's such a sweet boy. I thought I'd walk down without snowshoes on Tuesday, and that was a mistake. I'd forgotten I'd not broken a track through, but around The Point to the wetland. Whew, I was tired. Good exercise for this old body! 

I was happy to hunker down indoors with both cats! They were sitting at our feet, together.

They've been playing together a lot, it being -25 C. this a.m., things have been chilly. We were watching The Repair Shop, and could hear things going on around the corner in the dining room. Nutmeg was on the table flicking pencils onto the floor for Cinnamon who was waiting below! I laughed.

Winter tails

 I didn't venture far yesterday. I'm still a bit sore from snowshoeing, and thought I'd just do a regular workout. More snow overnight, and hopefully the system has moved along. It'd be nice to see the sunshine. 

You Two are here most of the time. 

Walking to the end of the driveway, I was checking for mail. We had three fire trucks go by, hopefully all is well. They were silent, thankfully, as there wasn't much traffic. Lights were flashing, though. There seem to be a lot of house fires in the city. So sad. Our firefighters are volunteers, bless their hearts.

The snowmobiles have been driving on the shoulder. They are so loud and so powerful, they drove me nuts in Muskoka, running across the lake, back and forth. 

 The trailcamera's operation continues to challenge me. I didn't venture into the forest and trailcam #1 might have something on it. Maybe! I did something new with trailcam #2. More on that tomorrow!

The young 'un is so fuzzy! Fuzzy You Two 

 

I like seeing the dawn arrive on the trailcams. Look what happens when the motion light on the garage kicks in and boosts the images. Deer at dawn .

 

We haven't seen much of Henry. I was hoping he'd drop an antler or two for me. I am deeply suspicious. The males tend to congregate in winter yards, but he's been here for awhile, until now. Jan 20 buck.

  

This is what happens when the sun goes down, a lovely spot of sunshine, promising its return. Deer at dusk.

  

A bird flew past, while the sun shone on King Henry's rack. Jan. 21st, the last time we spotted Henry the buck.

   

Later, I shall shovel the couple cm of snow we had. It's lovely to get out and have a project. 

Wetland walk

 It's not really walkies without a cat. The snow is too deep for Cinnamon, although it's been warmer. I forgot my scarf, and my gloves don't match, but I managed. I have another black and gray pair that match. Somewhere!

There are lots of deer beds in the snow. 

The wetland is rough walking. Durn good exercise, though! I followed the deer trails, but there are two problems with that:

1) They have skinny legs and my snowshoes don't fit into their trails.

2) They are on all fours and I keep having to duck under branches!

It's tricky, as my glasses used to protect my eyes, and I have to be careful. 

I have more evidence of LDD moths. There are many egg casing on the trees. What they tell me are the ones higher up will be killed if not at the base of the tree, perhaps covered in snow? I am hopeful, as it is a chilly -34 C.

You can see the egg casings all over the tree, and up high on the branches. It is terribly disturbing, and I've been trying not to think of it, but I have to be mentally prepared.

I hope this fine tree manages in spring. 

Here is trailcam #1. 

It's all about layers!

My boots got fairly snowy. I put them on the heater and had a nice hot shower. This morning, when I had to put out the garbage in the cold and dark, they were toasty warm!

Australian Open Tennis

If you aren't tuned into 🇨🇦Shapovalov vs 🇩🇪Zverev on TSN1, now's the time 👀#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/gGlK1fk4un
— TSN Tennis (@TSNTennis) January 23, 2022

🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾

TSN has the international broadcast feed from commentators for the Shapovalov/Zverev Australian Open: Josh Eagle, Colin Fleming, one of whom seemed quite thrilled with Zverev's temper tantrum: smashing his racquet on the court.

"The racquet is gone from Zverev in a big way. And there is definitely an upset brewing now.
Look at the aggression in that racquet break. Ya gotta give him a 10/10 for that, 'cause that is right up there with one of the best I've ever seen. He goes at it again. So good.  Maybe that's just what you need, that release of anxiety.  
Maybe he put a hole in the court. Some running repairs here. 

You would never encourage a young player or any player to break a racquet, but that's what Zverev needed. That doesn't worry me, and it wouldn't disappoint me if as a coach I saw that happen. He needs some inspiration from somewhere." 

He earned a code violation from the chair umpire. The fines can be $25,000. @TSNTennis exploits the drama.

It's not the first time he has done this, either. Zverev and Osaka both did it in 2019: 

Smashing racquets has become all the rage at Australian Open

 This time, and in 2019, Zverev went on to lose the game, so it didn't do him any good. Thousands of dollars in a fine. While everyone is angry and upset with COVID–19, this German is priviledged. He is 24 years old, gross earnings top $30 million USD.

Many of us are stressed, anxious, and are in horrible situations. People are losing work, housing, going to food banks, and this 20-something has his behaviour lauded by these announcers.

We're watching tennis to escape the news; the anger, the antivaxxers, the Russia/Ukraine conflict, horrific weather events, and this really is disturbing.

🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾

I posted the comments on Twitter, and @bjwshepherd sent me to an article on Slate.com, in which they write about the abuse Zverev has been accued of by his ex-girlfriend in the year they were dating:

“Every Day, I Was Crying” Olga Sharypova says her ex-boyfriend, tennis star Alexander Zverev, abused her. Why hasn’t the tour addressed it? 

– BY BEN ROTHENBERG, AUG. 25, 2021 8:12 PM

"She said that Zverev’s controlling and possessive behavior had first turned physically violent months earlier, but in New York that violence reached a new level. Sharypova said she ran out of their hotel room at the Lotte New York Palace and fled, barefoot, to the street. “This time, I really was scared for my life,” she told me."

King Henry the buck, You Two and cats

It's warmed up a tad (-10 C.)! That has been nice. That said, I went for a snowshoe Friday to fetch trailcam videos. By this time, in the afternoon, it had warmed up to -17 C., which was better than -33 C.!  It was exhausting in the knee-deep snow, even with snowshoes. I had to rest after a dozen or so paces. The snow is so deep! 

It is lovely, the snow. It wraps the land in a blanket that moderates the ground temperature. I am somewhat sore, after my short trek. I may do a longer trip today. 

You Two were down there in the forest. Particularly the doe. She was watching something carefully. It was delightful. I wondered what she was staring at, and then she bolted.

This is the trailcam beside the house. It yielded little of excitement! Here I am wearing my old yard duty coat. I am sure I bought it when I first was teaching in Ottawa in the 80s. It's a lovely warm coat and great in double-digit negative temperatures. 

This is the new trailcamera. I am getting used to it. 

King Henry dominates the feeder. He is majestic. 

I've moved this trailcam to a path I'd found the deer using that led from the forest to a path through the wetland. It's a different perspective and gave up a lot of action. Just skip through if it bores you, but I love watching them without interfering.

You Two in snow:

Running for some reason. I spliced together several videos. I couldn't figure out why they were running. Running deer : 

King Henry frequents this path! Buck : 

 

The front deck has been busy. We've about a dozen American tree sparrows. The cats are more interested in the squirrels, though. King Henry came for bird seed then helped himself to some water.

It's a popular place to sit when it is cold!