November can be cold, wet, and dismal. But this year the month seemed to have more squintingly bright days and fewer painfully frigid ones then in prior years. Water views were especially nice in the drier air. Nonetheless, it did get cold enough toward the end of the month to start freezing the ponds and we did get our first snow of the year in the form of a two-minute November flurry.
We did have plenty of rain, but we needed it and our streams now are robust. The deciduous trees are virtually devoid of leaves, but stands of coniferous trees still make the forest trails enchanting.
Evergreen Fern and Brocade Moss glowed even on gray November days. Tamarack (Larch) trees revealed themselves by suddenly turning yellow and then dropping all of their needles. Winterberry was more bountiful this November than it has been in decades, and a few tenacious apples clung to their branches through rain and shine.
As for the inhabitants of the woods, at least one buck seemed aware that deer hunting season begins in earnest in November. He appeared to browse only land that was posted with “No Hunting” signs. We saw toads until mid-November, an indication of the month’s relative warmth. We also were visited by an unusually large number of Blue Jays that took over the feeders.
On the waterfront, November is when most of our lobster fishermen (male and female) wind down their season and bring in their traps for winter storage.
As for recreational boating, most of the vessels have been stored and their mooring gear hung or packed away. Nonetheless, a relatively warm day did entice one hardy oarsman to go out on the water again.
November also is the time for splitting, stacking, and storing the winter wood that will burn beautifully in wood stoves and fireplaces.
Finally, November usually is the beginning of three months of our most dramatic sunsets and this November did not disappoint.
(All images in this post were taken in Down East Maine during November 2022.)