It seems these days that you can’t watch any sort of media without seeing superheroes. Superhero movies fill the box offices and pitch products to us in advertisements. Maybe it is just that I am constantly around my two elementary school age boys. While it can be fun to watch these movies and think about having superpowers. We can gain superpowers of our own in the winter, as long as we are willing to go outside and claim them.
What sort of superpowers? To start, we gain observational superpowers. With the leaves off of all of the deciduous trees, we can see the landscape that is otherwise covered from view. By seeing the landscape that is normally covered by trees and plants, we can better observe the topography, revealing rocks and geologic formations. Around here, that means features remaining from the glaciers of the most recent ice age, about 10,000 years ago.
With the leaves off of the trees and also off of most of the underbrush, we have unobstructed views over longer distances than we ever have during the other months. By seeing further, more of the now visible terrain can be seen from wherever we are. Views from low ridgelines that are normally green tunnels, can instead reveal vistas. We also have a greater opportunity to see animals with this superpower. We can see animals from further away without disturbing them and see them up in the now bare trees.
But our observational superpowers don’t end there. Winter in Wisconsin means snow, and the snow blankets the fallen leaves and ground brush. This blanket allows sound to travel unobstructed for greater distances, giving us super hearing. This will allow us to hear animals from greater distances. When combined with our improved chances to see animals, winter can be the best time of year to observe the wildlife that is active.
The observational superpowers of winter are some of our strongest, but there are still others that we can enjoy. The blanket of snow also provides a record, in the form of animal tracks, of all of the recent activity that has occurred in that location. Through these animal tracks we can travel back in time to the activities of animals that occurred before we arrived. In this way, we can discover the areas of the forest that the animals use most and how they use it. This information can help us to identify areas to better observe animals through out the other seasons of the year.
Lastly, with the cold weather of winter, many of the lakes, ponds and streams freeze over, giving us the power to walk on water. This opens up whole areas of exploration that are not otherwise available to us without a boat or watercraft. When I was growing up, we lived a few miles from the Horicon Marsh. Some of my favorite times in the marsh were exploring it in the wintertime on cross-country skis. In the winter, the ponds and channels used in management of the marsh water levels became frozen-over roadways for me to explore farther and faster than I was ever able to during the other months.
So this winter, get outside and use your superpowers!