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Good morning, you know… up here in the north, the land does most of the teaching, that is… if a man stays quiet long enough.

Backwoods Weather Report – Port Loring, Ontario Thursday, December 4, 2025

Well it’s a down right cold one this morning, the kind that makes the boards on the porch creak a little when you step out. Our weather station’s sitting at about 3 F with the C side showing around minus 16. Humidity is up there at 83 percent, which gives the cold a bit more bite than the number alone suggests. Barometer is hanging low at 29.22, not exactly a steady sign. Wind’s out of the north-northwest but not doing much… more like thinking about moving than actually moving.

For today, looks like we stay clear and cold with that heavy-feeling sky hanging around. Might get a bit of cloud drifting in later but nothing serious. Tomorrow has a better chance of some light snow, maybe just enough to freshen the road edges and keep the plows on their toes. Hard to say this far out, though the pressure reading hints at some kind of shift on the way.

Nature’s signs this morning are quiet. The woods feel still, almost pressed down by the cold. The spruce tips look tight and dark, and the birch branches have that glassy sheen they get when it’s been a long cold night. Even without wind the air has that dry-crackle feeling that tells you winter’s settled in for another year.

Highway 522 is mostly bare this morning in our area, though I’m sure there are icy stretches here and there… the kind that hide in the low spots and the places the sun hasn’t touched yet. Still, looks like good traveling for most folks today.

Even so, it never hurts to ease back a little. Roads can look fine right up until they’re not. And with this cold, the deer are on the move, doing their best to stay warm. They slip out onto the shoulder without much warning. I’ve come around a bend more than once to find one standing there like it owned the place.

On another note… yesterday I finally finished tuning the last of the flutes I’ve been working on these past few weeks, and every one of them is singing just right. Makes an old feller, flute maker and woodworker, feel mighty fine, knowing the hands and the ears haven’t slipped on me yet.

Now it’s on to brushing on a coat of natural oil, letting it soak in the way good wood likes to, then a couple coats of finish to lock it all down. After that they’ll be ready for my wife, who has a way of making them even prettier without ever taking away their soul.

So with that, I’m off for the breakfast my lovely wife has made for me, and then I’ll head out to the shop to see about starting another project. Haven’t quite made up my mind yet what I want to make or do… but that’s part of the fun, letting it settle in while you’re out there among the tools.

Anyway, have a great day.

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW