It’s getting pretty close to that annual time of the year (actually winter) when many of our area residents begin to suffer the earliest symptoms of that dreaded North Country affliction known as “cabin fever.” With the holidays behind us, and few left until Easter time, even some of the avid snow worshippers begin to long for warmer temperatures and glimpses of green grass.
There was a time, many years ago, when I thought living in our “Last Frontier” – that being Alaska – would be like Heaven for someone who loved the outdoors. But as I struggled through my own late-winter cabin fever one year, the thought of a six-month winter season with no or precious little daylight put things in better perspective. Even a five-month spring-to-autumn period when it never gets fully dark didn’t seem like an attractive enough trade-off for enduring a winter like that.
Thanks to my decades of being involved with the outdoor media, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to sample the various weather and seasons of many locales and regions. One thing I learned was none of them could be considered “perfect” year-round and for every positive feature they offered, there was a negative one that balanced the scale. Much like my early perception of Alaska, each region had its attractions and distractions when it came to climate and conditions.
Just as residents of Tug Hill accept seasonal snowfall that’s measured in feet, residents of the Southwest Sunbelt accept the fact that they’ll be broiling in 100-plus temperatures in summer, and those in the Southeast will also be treated by sauna-like humidity that makes just being outdoors an endurance event. This probably explains why many residents of the Sunbelt head north in summer while many residents of the Snowbelt head south in winter; in both cases, they’re normallyexperiencing the optimum weather conditions the visited regions have to offer.
Of course weather and temperature conditions aren’t the only factors to consider when seeking that “perfect” location to live. People living or visiting the northern regions in spring must contend with what natives there refer to as the “Scourge of the North.” – that being the dreaded blackfly season. Conversely, blackfly season usually only lasts about a month, compared to the mosquito season in the Southeast, which can last until Thanksgiving some years. Add all the other biting or stinging insects down there, along with gators and poisonous snakes, and venturing outdoors takes on a whole new philosophy and approach.
I readily recall being in a Louisiana bayou one dark January night, looking for a deer a bowhunter from our lodge had wounded. Between the gators and the cottonmouths out cruising, each time I saw movement in or on the tea-colored water, the hair on the back of my neck bristled and I prepared to take flight in the opposite direction, whatever good that might do. A few days prior, I’d felt something touch the back of my neck while I was in a treestand. When I reached back to brush it off, I discovered it was a giant centipede bigger around than my thumb. By the way, they also can bite, but thankfully I hurled this one away before it did.
And while I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid hurricanes and earthquakes in those regions that have them, I’ve discovered the weather can turn against you very quickly, regardless of where you are. On one trip to the Canadian tundra, my group was stranded in a main lodge for a week before the weather cleared sufficiently for a floatplane to usher us out. Nothing we could do but wait, and wait, and wait. And on a more recent trip to Canada, we had to chainsaw our way in on the road that led to our hunting lodge due to a recent snow and ice storm that downed dozens of trees and blocked the access roads.
Then there was a deer hunt on Anticosti Island a few years ago that a torrential rain and wind storm the Canadian Weather Service called “the Perfect Storm.” Anticosti sets on the eastern portion of the Gulf of St, Lawrence on the edge of the North Atlantic. The lodge I was in was facing the beach and the east- right toward the face of the storm. Winds of 60 miles per hour threatened to blow windows out and did tremendous damage to the surrounding forest. The torrential rains caused streams and rivers to flood, washed out bridges, and effectively ended chances to access hunting areas. I’d been to Anticositi several times and never dreamt it could be that nasty, but those who live there say extreme weather on the island isn’t all that uncommon, but tourists and visitors seldom see it because of smart scheduling by outfitters and lodges.
So what it all boils down to is that elusive “perfect place” to live is largely a pipedream, depending on the season and one’s outdoor interests. None are perfect year-round.
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Chenango Perch Derby
The Chenango Perch Derby announces results from its Saturday, Feb. 5 event:
Largest perch: Jeff Truax, $150.
Largest pickerel: Ed Wells, $150.
No tagged perch were caught, so the price money was award through a drawing. Winners were Tim O’Connor, Owego ($500); Charles Drake, Cooperstown ($250); Eric Decker, Sidney ($100); Stanley Hayes, Greene ($75); Diane Sterling, Bainbridge ($50); and William Bunzey, Afton ($25).
Raffle winners of ten $100 prizes (five cash and five gift certificates) were Tommy Marks, Oxford; Andy Place, Lowville; Mike Zaia, Norwich; Thomas Land, West Winfield; Charles Whitmore, Oneonta; Joe Loparco, Maine; Andy Place, Lowville; Francis Tucker, McDonough; Darlene Miller, Sherburne; and George Carnrike, Norwich.