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Icy reception

2/23/2025

Jeb

Mother Nature gave the newest member of the Applegate fur family the cold shoulder when he made the trip to Pennsylvania from Delaware on Jan. 10.

Jeb, a young bloodhound, was greeted by snow and frigid temperatures.

Of course, it was snowy where he was whelped as well.

Jeb was uneasy for his first week at his new home.

Jebediah

Jeb

Things were very different from his birthing place and there were new faces and smells.

To make things worse, his new human mom put a hat on him.

However, Jeb took things in stride. It only took a couple of days to figure out the dog door.

He finally settled down enough to enjoy his doggy pillow.

Gus and Jeb

Gus and Jeb hit things off. However, Gus had to be careful not to step on the diminutive bloodhound.

Jeb and Clem

Jeb quickly grew fond of elder bloodhound, Clem. He shadowed every move Clem made. It was rare that Clem could venture anywhere without Jeb close behind. Clem in addition to being Jeb's adopted brother was actually blood related to Jeb's mother. Clem in fact may be Jeb's uncle.

Sadie, Jeb and Clem

Sadie, like Mother Nature, originally gave Jeb the cold shoulder. However, like the weather she gradually warmed up to him, little by little.

Lil' Bit and Jeb

Then Jeb encountered feline Lil' Bit. There was biting, chasing and scratching. It was all in good fun until Jeb got too big and too rough. Lil' Bit steers clear of the puppy for now except for the occasional ambush.

Jeb and Otis

When Jeb greeted Otis, he was welcomed in goat-fashion with an attempted headbutt.

Clem and Jeb

It only took a little over a month for Jeb to join the big dogs on their walk. He soon had no problem going for the whole length of our daily journey.

He's working to get the hang of crossing creeks. Mother Nature made things harder with ice formations on one day and rising waters on the next. Jeb was motivated by treats and soon started double- and triple- crossing the waterways to obtain more goodies.

Jeb

Over the past few weeks, Jeb grew by leaps and bounds. On his first vet visit he weighed in at 19 pounds and on his most recent visit he was up to 32 pounds.

Jeb and Clem

Jeb is still struggling with housetraining. Again, Mother Nature and her frigid temperatures and freezing rain did not help the situation. No one wanted to be outside for very long during any of these weather events.

Jeb

Jeb has a small issue with his eyes. He is so wrinkled that his folds push his eyelashes into his eyes. The vet gave him some drops to lubricate his eyes. He may grow out of this issue once he grows into his wrinkles. However, he may need surgery later on to tack his eyelids. Clem had this issue, and it was resolved with stitches. Time will tell if Jeb needs to take that route.

Gus, Jeb and Clem

I'm sure that Jeb will face challenges head on in the future. Just as the weather is growing slightly more comfortable, Jeb is definitely more comfortable with his fur-ever home. That's just the nature of things 'round here.

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Winter waning??

2/3/2025

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On Sunday, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

What a winter it has been so far. A look back at this January’s weather stats found that it has been snowier and colder than normal.

According to data provided by the National Weather Service’s station at Venango Regional airport, there were a few days that stood out for higher snowfalls.

On Jan. 4 there were four inches of snow followed by two inches on Jan. 7 and three inches on Jan. 11.

Additional traces of snow added up to a total of 19.2 inches of snow for Franklin for January which was above the normal average of 17.9 inches of snow for Franklin.

Meanwhile, the average temperature for this January for Franklin was five degrees below the normal of 33.7 degrees.

According to National Weather Service data, a high of 12 degrees was recorded on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22.

The high of 12 on Jan. 21 matched a high of 2008 and the high of 12 on Jan. 22 matched a high set in 2014.

The National Weather Service’s station recorded a low on Jan. 22 of -8 degrees.

According to data, this was the coldest low for Jan. 22 in the past 25 years.

Allegheny River at Oil City

Meanwhile, a warmup on Jan. 30 prompted some concern about ice jams on area rivers.

” Expect a warmup over the next couple of days as our air will be coming out of the south rather than Canada. This warmup will continue the process of melting the snow on the ground and the ice on the rivers.

A slow and steady melting is what we need to prevent flooding issues. However, a storm system will move northeastward from the south-central US this afternoon and cross our area Friday evening.

This system will bring widespread rain to the area beginning late tonight and continuing into early Saturday morning. ... At this time, no points on any of the rivers are forecasted to reach flood stage. But we also need to keep an eye on local streams as well.,” the National Weather Service’s office in Pittsburgh posted on Facebook on the morning of Jan. 30.

Oil Creek at Oil City

Photos taken Jan. 31 in Oil City, showed no threat of an ice jam.

There appeared to be clear channels for the water to pass through.

The water level gauge on the Allegheny River at West Hickory reported a steady river level at 3.3 feet until Jan. 21 when it climbed to and peaked at 7.75 feet on Jan. 23. It had slowly fallen to 6.35 feet as of Feb. 2.

The gauge on Oil Creek at Rouseville was at 2.67 feet on Jan. 31 and had reached 3.67 feet by Feb. 1.
Meanwhile the Allegheny River gauge at Franklin was steadily growing from 3.65 feet on Jan. 31 to 4.8 feet on Feb. 2.

In drought news, Venango County has no current drought conditions. However, the western portion of Forest County was still labeled as abnormally dry by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Monday, Feb. 3, didn’t deliver any precipitation but it did bring temperatures about 20 degrees below normal for this time of year.

The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for Feb. 7-11 showed near normal temperatures and a chance of above average precipitation.

The center’s outlook for Feb. 9-15, was a little different.

It called for a slight chance of below normal temperatures but was also calling for a chance of above average.

As if the groundhog’s news wasn’t bad enough, the region might face a significant icing event Wednesday night into Thursday morning of this week.

Nonetheless, the wintry weather provided many photo opportunities for me.

A morning walk on Jan. 10 yielded awesome lighting for frost photos.

The crystals had grown overnight in single digit lows.

The dry and frigid air pulled the moisture out of branches and soil to create wonderous works of art.

The scenery changed daily as temperatures plummeted and then warmed again.

On Jan. 21, the small creek feeding the neighbor’s pond was open and flowing.

On Jan. 22, it was frozen solid.

We could walk across it.
Then by Feb. 1, there was open water again with a sketchy looking ice bridge.

The freeze and thaw cycle created some interesting ice formations on the area streams.

American tree sparrow

Meanwhile, the cold weather drove man birds to the feeder. Winter visitors included American tree sparrows, goldfinches, woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos and more.

Meanwhile, the cold weather drove man birds to the feeder. Winter visitors included American tree sparrows, goldfinches, woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos and more. Also at the feeders, there was a gray squirrel or two.

In the woods, bluebirds and other feathered friends were busy feeding on winterberries.

Bluebird

The deer were working hard to uncover the acorns that they hadn’t consumed in the fall.
However, the winter weather that created beautiful scenery can contribute to hardships like power outages and treacherous travel.

That’s just the nature of things ‘round here.

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Author

"The Nature of Things" features the writings and photographs of Anna Applegate, who is a lifelong resident of Pinegrove Township, Venango County. She is a graduate of Cranberry High School and Clarion University. After a 15-year career in the local news industry, she made a change and now works at a steel finishing plant in Sandycreek Township. She is a avid lover of animals and nature, and a gifted photographer.

Very happy to be able to share Anna's great "The Nature of Things" blog.

Check out Anna's other artwork here!

Icy reception

Winter waning??

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