After the Spring snow

Morning broke brightly upon the new fallen snow, Boris had risen before the sun and put his paw up to shade his eyes as the first rays of morning sun lit up his farm. Blinking and squinting in the glare off of the white snow, Boris quickly surveyed his farm and the forest beyond. A foot or more of new snow covered the ground from yesterday's storm, heavy wet snow that continued into late last night.

Boris had slept through the storm, as any black bear would, though he awoke several times to the sounds of branches creaking, breaking and on one occasion the sound of a whole tree falling not too far from his den. The first order of business today was to clear the snow from his doors and the path leading to his sugar house, and he got started right away. Once done, he went inside for a hearty breakfast of porridge, which he covered with warm syrup made from his labors this week.

After cleaning up his breakfast dishes, Boris headed out to his woods, he was eager to find the tree that fell and to check that his maple grove was not too badly damaged by the storm.  The early morning was still cold with a nip in the air, but the rising sun warmed Boris' back and he had a feeling that the sap in his maple trees would be flowing well very shortly.  Walking past the first few trees, he pushed the snow off of the lid and peered inside.  Nothing yet, so he closed the lid and moved on continuing to brush snow off the hanging bucket as he made his way up the slope.

Here and there, Boris spotted downed branches from a variety of trees, both leafless deciduous and several large coniferous branches, one that looked like the whole top of a large pine tree.  Stepping carefully around some young birches, that were bent all the way over due to the heavy snow the top branches, Boris was aware that they could snap back quickly if the snow suddenly slid off.

Reaching the top of the hill, Boris spotted the tree that fell overnight, he could see it well from this vantage point and was saddened that it was one of the oldest of the maples in this grove.  He remembered the first time that he tapped it with grandfather bear all those years ago, the tree was big then and gave many gallons of sap over the years.  Boris had not tapped this tree for a long time, it was too old and many of the branches on top had died back.  He left it in the woods as a habitat for the local birds and small climbing animals.  Woodpeckers had drilled holes in the dead branches, and a host of squirrels and song birds had built nests in the still living branches.  The tree also shaded the undergrowth and kept the younger trees from growing to fast and overcrowding the forest.

Today the tree was stretched out across the forest floor with a coating of new snow upon its length.  Having uprooted as it fell, the exposed soil and root ball was already being investigated this morning by several birds and squirrels, for the insects and other food sources that might be there.  Boris knew that no tree ever went to waste in the woods, over time this one would nourish many animals and plants that live here.  More sunlight will get into this area of the forest and the young trees will start growing quickly in the years to come.