Lamenting the many, many colorless days this season, I headed to an unusual place to find some brighter shades. In the basement, I have sheltered some flowers that I hoped to keep alive. I planned to return them outside when the growing season gets underway in approximately five months. 

There is part of my home's basement that is referred to as the back room. It was separated from the rest of the area. 
It was not cemented and featured a dirt floor. 
Long story short: When grandfather Stover was cementing and digging out the rest of basement, there was a stone in the back portion of the area. Grandfather decided to dynamite the stone out to continue finishing the concrete work. The blast blew out all the windows in the basement. Nonetheless, the stone remained and is still there today. Grandmother Stover was not thrilled with this attempt. I have a feeling that this disapproval halted any more blasting projects in the area. 
Fortunately for me, this made an awesome place for some grow lights and a winter refuge for a few plants. 
The dirt floor means that I didn't have to be careful with watering or any potting soil that might spill out. Dirt is dirt. 
The grow lights that I put up featured different types of light. This casted a glow that picked up a few novel hues. That was the case when I photographed a cyclamen in bloom. The flowers were actually white.​

A post on thespruce.com, described the plant as a "tuberous perennial, meaning it dies down to its thick roots (tubers) during its summer dormancy period and then regrows quickly each fall. ... It's commonly grown as a houseplant." A Wikipedia post stated that cyclamen species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to the Caucasus and Iran, with one species in Somalia.  Some of the varieties are known to bloom in the winter. If I remembered correctly, mine died back and bloomed at different times throughout the year. That may have possibly been when I forgot to water it. 

Adding color to the basement darkness, was a black-eyed Susan vine. While they share the same coloring as black-eyed Susans, they are really different plants. 
A post by Bonnie L. Grant, on gardeningknowhow.com described the plant as a "tender perennial that is grown as an annual in temperate and cooler zones. You can also grow the vine as a houseplant but be wary as it may grow to 8 feet ... in length." I had put mine outside during the summer and moved it inside during the winter. It has currently vined out in the basement into the floor joists and some gas lines. I surmised that moving it outside this summer might involve some pruning. 

Among the blossoms, there was the plant whose name I can never remember.
I was sure it started with "diplo-something."
That prefix only brought up the dinosaur diplodocus in an internet search.
I added "flowers" to the search terms. That only brought up dinosaur planters. While cute, they were not the results I needed. Finally, I demined that the red flower is a dipladenia or rock trumpet flower. 
​A post on plantly.io said, "A member of the flowering plants, this species is a native of South Africa." It went on to provide tips on care and the difference between dipladenia and mandevilla plants.  
The post also added, "since dipladenia are accustomed to warm temperatures, you must bring it indoors when the winter season comes." 
So far, this plant has survived at least two years by being brought indoors in the winter. 

Likewise, several begonias were overwintering in the basement refuge as well.
​At least here, they were safe from hungry deer. Some of the begonias have been around for at least three or four years. 
A planter of Shasta daisies was added to those plants that were "saved" from the cold. 
​A post on almanac.com said, " ​A European native, Shasta daisies are now naturalized throughout North America. Like clockwork, these daisies return every spring or early summer and bloom until early fall. "
The post additionally warned that the daisies were considered aggressive growers.
This was my first year growing the daisies. After reading the information, I decided that I will likely keep the daisies in their planter. 
However, aphids have attacked some of the daisies. I have had problems with the little buggers before, but they usually resolve themselves. It's funny how I have never really had problems with aphids when the plants were outdoors. 

The blooms in the basement had me yearning for some spring blooms. I planted several poises including some white daffodils last fall.  However, I was curious to see if I actually placed the bulbs in the flower bed. I had a feeling that there may be several white daffodils located two or more feet from the rest of the flowers.  

A look back at spring photos in the past provided a timeline of growth. Last year, it was Feb. 24 for the first signs of green shoots outdoors. In 2021, on Feb. 28, there were tulip leaves popping up through the snow. In 2020, snowflakes, the flowers, were budding through green grass on Feb. 24. 

While the weather outside is frightful, there are signs that we are progressing toward spring.

A Facebook post Monday, Jan. 23, by C&A Trees, a Clarion greenhouse, said, "Happy Monday! Two weeks from today we start planting in the greenhouse and 56 days till spring..." 

Hopefully, it won't be too much longer until I view a little more color outside. 
However, the timing of the growing season is up to Mother Nature. 

Until then I will enjoy my artificial growing season and its blooms. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

On Thursday, many Pennsylvanians will wait for mammal meteorologist Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his den.

​As temperatures warmed recently, I noticed that other animals were out and about. 

According to the wildlife notes on the Pennsylvania Game Commission website, "Woodchucks begin denning up with the hard frosts of October. Few remain active past the first of November."

The note went on to say that the males emerge from hibernation before females, and during February and March fight aggressively.
​
I thought to myself that might be something to see, a woodchuck fight. With my walking companions I can say that we have never encountered a groundhog on our walks.

As well as the coyotes, the trail cameras grabbed some photos of a fox or two in my parents' backyard. 
"In late winter, foxes can be heard barking at night, making their presence known to members of the opposite sex. Breeding usually takes place in February," said a game commission wildlife note. 

Meanwhile, several gray squirrels have been spotted under the bird feeder and have triggered quite a few photos on the trail cameras. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, "squirrels never actually hibernate in winter but will hole up and sleep soundly through several days of snowstorms or extreme cold." 

The post went on to mention that there are peaks in the squirrels' breeding activity in January and February. There are peaks from May to July, but that squirrels can be reproductively active throughout much of the year, the post continued. 

Also holed up during the winter weather, were some raccoons. I tried several times to get a good photo without imposing on their den. I believed there were at least three or four raccoons in the hollow tree. 

"​Many family groups (mother and offspring) stay together through the young raccoons’ first winter," a wildlife note on the game commissions' site said.

In spring, the juveniles will disperse from the areas in which they were born, the note continued.  

While the raccoons stayed cozy in their tree, the deer were left to brave the snow and wind. However, a Facebook memory from January of last year, showed that they had it a little easier this year in terms of snowpack. 

Meanwhile, the Applegate canines were also out and about. They enjoyed the snow and battling each other in it. Sometimes they rolled around in it and ate the non-yellow parts of the snow. However, they are fortunate to return inside to a heated house where they can hibernate on the couch.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

I saw a shiny object in the sky the other day. I was confused and wasn't sure if I had viewed such a thing over the past few weeks.

I took several photos to document the occasion. I even pulled out my crystal ball to make sure the sighting was real. 

Sure enough, it was the sun, and it made an appearance for the better part of two whole days. 

When it sank below the horizon on the first of those two days, it made graceful and colorful exit. 

However, by the second day the clouds started to absorb the sun before it even had a chance to make to the horizon. 

Over this winter season, it seemed to me that the sun had gone into hibernation like some of the animals in the region. Nonetheless, whenever the sun came and went, it did make a brilliant entrance or exit. 

In fact, a sunset on Dec. 28 was very spectacular.

It appeared that its brilliance wasn't just limited to this area.
Facebook pages and posts from across the state graced my newsfeed that evening and into the next day.

​However, it seemed that that event must have been a grand finale of sorts before the sun went back into hiding. 

I was determined to try to narrow down just how many the days the sun had been incognito. With help from some National Weather Service data and an internet search, the sun appeared to have been out of sight for quite a few days. 

If I tallied things up correctly, there have been 28 overcast days observed from Dec. 1, 2022, to Jan. 18, 2023, by a weather station at the Franklin Airport. However, within that time span, there were 15 days of missing data. These were times when the instrumentation did not measure the sky cover. So far only Jan. 15 and 16 were listed as days pegged with the clear designation. 

A little further research on the internet turned up that western Pennsylvania winters are more clouds than sun. A post on the Current Results site listed the "Cloudiest American Cities in Winter." The post included a chart listing the major U.S. cities averaging 50 or more days during winter when clouds covers over three-quarters of the sky. Pittsburgh came in with an average of 64 days of heavy clouds which added up to 71 percent of the winter days. The steel city was beat out by Buffalo, New York, that posted 68 cloudy days totaling 76 percent. 

Despite the absence of the sun, the days are getting longer. According to timeanddate.com, Oil City should see nine hours and 34 minutes of sun, when the clouds part. The site listed that the sun currently rises at 7:41 a.m. and sets at 5:16 p.m.

By the end of January, the site posted that the sun is scheduled to set after 5:30 p.m. Whether or not we will be able to see the sunset through the clouds remained up in the air. The 10-day forecast on several weather sites didn't appear very optimistic about any sunny sightings. That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

Blue skies partnered with some sunshine brought to light an eastern bluebird on Sunday.  Local birding expert Gary Edwards in his book "Birds of Venango County," listed the bluebird as a common year-round resident. He wrote that their numbers have fluctuated over the years, but "the numbers continue to increase." 

Not to be excluded, photos of the younger Gus were also posted. However, Gus was too busy exploring the snowy scene to stop and pose for photos. 
​
Perhaps, Sherman could teach him a thing or two about being a model. 

 Sherman hesitated at first. Gus had no hesitation. 

Of course, Sherman and Gus, were not the only ones entertained by the snow. Sadie, a Newfoundland, and Clem, the bloodhound, were stirred by the snow. They also stirred the snow up in several places. 

Kennedy, however, was not exuberant about the cold white stuff. Nonetheless, he trudged on. 

Meanwhile, I was delighted with the weekend covering of snow. Perhaps, it was just the change from gray and brown to some white and blue hues.

​To me this was the perfect snow. It fell softly and slowly outlining bare tree branches as it piled up. It was unlike the blowing vortex of flakes over Christmas that were driven by winds up to 50 mph. As I walked our daily trek, I couldn't help but exclaim to myself, "How beautiful." Despite the panting of a curious canine or two, the woods were silent. 

It appeared that no creatures were stirring. Before the snow fell, we had spooked a herd of at least eight deer on a couple of our walks. However, the deer must have hunkered down over the wintery weekend. I didn't even see very many tracks once the snow covered the ground.  

That's just the nature of things 'round here. 

What a difference a few days made. Last week, the Allegheny River and Oil Creek in Oil City were packed with ice. This week only remnants of the icy chunks remained on the river and creek banks. The river was clear of everything except fog on Wednesday.

Last Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, the ice pack could be seen clogging up the river from the Wye Railroad bridge to at least a half-mile past the Oil City Marina. 

An inquiry to the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh last Thursday prompted a cautious response about the dangers of a possible ice jam. 
"We're watching carefully, but (it) should be warm enough tonight through tomorrow night to continue melting a good bit of the ice," the office said. It also said that rainfall forecasted for last Saturday shouldn't have been enough to cause significant issues.
​The office's statement which was issued last week was right on the money. 

This week the river was cleared of most of the ice. However, some fog lingered, and recent rains helped river levels rise. A chart on the National Weather service's site, provided some information. On Jan. 2, the Allegheny River at Franklin was at 6.55 feet. The level jumped to 8.62 feet by Jan. 4 and had risen slightly to 9.25 feet on Jan. 5. 

Reports from the Kinzua Dam on Jan. 4, said the Allegheny River temperature was at 36 degrees which was at least 15 degrees cooler than the air temperature that day. By Thursday, Jan. 5, the river had cooled a bit to 35.8 degrees. The Tionesta Lake reported on Jan. 4 that its stream temperature was 33.4 degrees, and that the lake temperature was frozen. Tionesta Lake officials also reported on Jan. 4 that "we are starting to discharge a higher volume of water to compensate for the rising lake levels." The lake's stream temperature climbed to 37 degrees on Thursday. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh is looking for some help reporting river ice conditions. In a Facebook post, they reported that at 4 p.m. Jan. 11, they would host a training seminar on Facebook Live on how to report river ice throughout the winter season. 

While the ice exited this year without incident, folks more than 96 years ago were not so lucky.  My grandmother had kept some photos that were found in the backseat of a used car they had purchased. The photos stamped with the name Jerry M. Lynch were of the 1926 March flooding in Oil City.

A post on the website greenerpasture.com listed a several news bulletins. One with the dateline Oil City, Pa., on March 21, 1926, said "Flood waters are rapidly rising here. ​A flood stage of twenty-five feet and six inches of was reached by the Allegheny River late tonight and the water is still rising."

The post continued with another bulletin also on March 21, 1926. It said that the ice had covered the river since Feb. 26, 1926, had started to move. The ice piled up at "the eastern end of the city, with the result that the lower parts of Oil City, along the river were flooded," the bulletin continued. 

While the old photos provided some visual insight into the catastrophe, it was hard to imagine just how much ice there was. One photo was labeled as a picture of the ice above the railroad bridge in Siverly taken on March 14, 1926. After enlarging the picture some, I surmised that the black figures on the ice were humans, albeit not smart ones. 

An article published March 24, 1926, in The News-Herald estimated the flood loss in Oil City to be around half a million dollars. Companies that sustained substantial damages included the National Transit Pump and Machine Co., Joseph Reid Gas Engine Co. and the Kramer Wagon works. Oil City wasn't alone in flooding woes. The ice also took out the Big Rock Bridge at Franklin on March 21. 

While much has been done over the years to prevent the flooding, Mother Nature is still very unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. That's just the nature of things 'round here.