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January 21, 1999 - Adventures in a wintry wonderlandGA • The Suffolk Times *. January 21,_1999 Adventures in a wintry wonderland How does one tell of the magic and quiet of a late- afternoon snowfall? It started just as predicted at noontime. Previously I'd made plans to bring a tractor with a front -end loader from Mattituck to Focus Cutchogue for my son. Seeing ON the plans were NATURE set, I decided to go no matter by Paul what the weather. Stoutenburgh We got to Matti- tuck just as the light snow started to fall. After much hesitation, belching and coughing with a great plume of black smoke, the tractor caught and started. With the diesel warmed up, I headed east along one of Southold's loveliest back roads, the little -used Oregon Road that runs east and west paralleling the Sound. This is one of the town's best - kept secrets as far as rural roads go. In days gone by it was a unique little com- munity unto itself. Ice hung heavy from the seat as the new snow started to cover everything with its whiteness. Now the roads were covered and Oregon Road lay before me as an unblemished strip of white. The tractor had a road speed in its range of gears so I traveled along at a moderate speed, the snow pelting my face.. Old farmhouses slipped by, their sim- ple grandness even more pronounced in the snow, each still with its now- weath- ered Christmas wreath on the front door. Many of the old farmhouses have new tenants, as most of the old potato farms have long since been phased out into more profitable enterprises such as grapes, sod or greenhouses. I can remember those farms when on both sides of the road potatoes stretched out in their greenery, and what a sight they were when they blossomed. Partway down the road I passed the old Oregon School that is now being used as a home. It and the homesteads and barns still tell of what was once one of Southold's spe- cial communities. The driven wind was out of the south- east and with the tractor's road speed the snow stung my face and coated my glass- es. On I went with Barbara close behind in the pickup, its flashing lights blinking in the whirling snow. I was dressed 1 a-""M9,0 1 ��Wi A warmly with lined coveralls and jacket, the only vulnerable spots being my neck and fingertips anti, of course, my face. I chugged along past Mill Lane, Elijahs Lane, Alvahs Lane, Depot Lane and then turned south onto Cox Lane. I got some relief from the driving snow when I turned, for now the woods sheltered me on both sides. Here we encountered our first car tracks. We were now coming into an entirely different world. The dual highway suddenly appeared before me with its slushy road surface and moving traffic. Even with the lights on the trac- tor, I was con- cerned I wouldn't be seen with the now -heavy falling snow. I waited and waited until there was a break in the traffic and then with full throttle I started across the highway. At trac- tor speed it seemed it took for- ever to cross that wide highway. Now I was once again in the open. The snow seemed to beat on my face more viciously and find its way down my neck in new and mysterious ways. On I went until I saw through the snow the red' light on Route 25. This would give me a safer crossing. Once the light changed I was homeward bound and once again on less traveled roads with only two more simple crossings. I parked the tractor in the building and gladly stepped into the warm pickup in which Barbara followed. lawn and built up on the outside patio furniture and on every limb and shrub. Visibility dissolved at the end of the pas- ture. Falling snow had completely cap- tured us and we were under its spell. So much so that I craved for more. I once again bundled up and with the excuse of going for the mail I ventured out into the falling whiteness. I took the long way to the mail, via the garden where I had to check and see if the deer were out in the field to the north. No, they weren't there. them they were toasting their success with wine glasses full of fruit juice. The wonder of the young ... The snow later that night was ex- pected to turn to rain. So be ►t. We had our day of snow. Some of you might recall my telling of the sandhill crane that is spending the holidays in Orient. Carol Taylor called to say she saw it as late as the 9th of January. Lucky its feeding habits are so varied. I've been told it will even take a mouse and in warmer weather frogs and an occa- sional fish. Insects from earthworms to beetles, from small birds to snakes, from left- over grain to roots and tubers all fall prey to its giant probing bill. Every time we get a cold spell I think our sandhill is doomed but then we get a break in the weather and it's seen again probing for food in the fields of Orient. We have only Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Whenever It snows the North Fork is changed Into an entirely different place. The common Is mysteriously transformed into a wonderland of white. A picture- window view Home looked like a newly painted scene of white. Inside the house we sat before the big picture window and enjoyed the luxury of a warm house and a hot cup of cocoa and homemade cook- ies. Outside a perfect snow was falling. We lost the rest of the afternoon in enjoying fairy snow as it blanketed the 16.r C. ! 420 i.o V V 1% 1P H 41% 75 years ago Jan 11, 1924 Advertisement: Are you in the market for a good used car? We have a number of exceptionally good buys this week at prices that will surprise you. Fords from $35 and up — in any style to suit your fancy and pocketbook. Come and see us or phone for a demonstration. The Handy Gas Station and Garage, Greenport. Ah, electricityl: Electricity has done much for East Marion besides lighting the homes. The work of the house- hold has been made much lighter by the use of the iron, sweeper and washer. Those who are enjoying the electric lights and can read and sew during these long winter evenings, without the use of two or three pairs of glasses, wonder how they ever got along without them. We hope ere long the streets will be lighted so that the people won't have to walk in darkness and, it may be, avoid many an accident. 50 years ago Jan. 14, 1949 Test wells at Brookhaven: An engineering and geologi- cal survey involving the drilling of test wells in a eight- by 12 -mile circle around Brookhaven National Laboratory is being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey at the request of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, it was announced today. The survey is for the purpose of deter- mining the quality, quantity, direction and rate of move- No matter. Then I stopped to admire the flowering yellow jasmine that now had fluffy collars of white draped about them. Next I stood by the 15 -foot holly in the center of the garden, its red berries surrounded by snow — all this in the stillness of the late afternoon. About then I heard laughter and screams from over at my daughter's house. Her 14- year -old daughter, Sara, and two of her friends had caught the snow spirit in an entirely different way. They were jumping and dancing on the snow - covered trampoline. Here was youthful vigor in its purest and liveliest sense. What fun they were having. A later report from her mother was that the girls previously had been working on school projects in the kitchen and, had completed them. When Peg found ment in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear research cen- ter. Orient news: Announcement is made by the trustees of the Congregational church that the choir will sing from the balcony in the church during the morning service on Sunday, Jan. 16. It is requested that as many of the congre- gation as possible attend in order that they may express their opinion on this considered change in the location of the church choir. 25 years ago Jan. 10, 1974 Postage hike postponed: Welcome news for the letter - writing public is the announcement that the U.S. Postal Service has delayed until March 2 postage rate increases that originally were to have gone into effect on Jan. 5. On the March date postage stamps will go up from eight to 10 cents, and airmail stamps from 11 to 13 cents. Referendum on town hall site: Southold Town will ask votes in a referendum either March 5 or 12 for permission to buy 22 acres on Middle Road, Southold, to build a new town hall. The board authorized Supervisor Albert Martocchia Tuesday to sign a contract to purchase the property at $4,000 an acre subject to voters' approval. The total package to be presented to voters will carry an esti- mated price tag of $926,000. This includes land, building costs, site development, water and sewer hookups. two true cranes in North America — our unusual visitor, the sandhill crane and the rare whooping crane that teeters on the endangered list. This is the tallest bird -in America and one of the rarest. Its pure -white body with a dash of scarlet on its head and black wing tips set this giant above all others in size. Like all cranes they perform elaborate mating dances, hopping into the air six or seven feet. This, along with bowed heads and croaking calls, makes this a bird to watch at courtship time. Then, as if a switch was turned off, they'll stop their gyra- tions and wooing and walk about as if nothing had happened. It's truly an exhilarating exhibit of courtship. Another late- winter record, as you remember, was the sighting of a cattle egret near the buffalo in Riverhead. Another one, or possibly the same one, was reported this week by Rob McGinness of Orient around his horses. That end of the island, for some reason, seems to be attracting these rarities. On an entirely different subject, a sad story follows. I received a telephone call from Gene at Strawberry Fields in Mattituck about a dead owl he had found in his pasture. Barbara and I immediately went to investigate and, sure enough, there was a great horned owl in perfect condition — dead. Just by chance Gene came upon it. We took it to our local vet, Dr. Zitek, in hopes of finding the cause of its demise. Here it was x -rayed to see if it had been shot or had any broken bones. Nothing showed up but a small bruise on one wing. Its stomach was empty, so it hadn't been poisoned by eating a rat or mouse that someone had set poison bait out for. Our only conclusion was it had been tossed about in the strong winds that accompanied the snowstorm and the bird hit a limb or wire and was knocked to the ground. Being stunned or uncon- scious it might have frozen to death as it lay there. We'll never know. What it does show us is that disaster strikes the birds and animals about us. It shows how little we really know about what goes on outside our back doors.