Pine marten on a first snow

First snow On the high mountain plateaus, the cold has been appearing for some time now. In the early morning, the colorful leaves and yellow thorns of the larch trees are wrapped in frost. The remnants of a rich and hot summer become inert and motionless. The blanket of fine icy crystals that covered everything dictated the end of the comfort of the forests. While life seemed to desert the forests, many animals were stirring there. Winter was approaching and there was little time left to reproduce and store energy. Arriving at night, I observed the moon in a still clear sky. With the cold, I always found that it looked different. In this lunar atmosphere, the distance from the cosmos seemed, for a moment, closer. A wind was sweeping away the thin layer of snow that had covered the lichen. Behind the mountains, the sun was rising. The clarity of the blue sky faded with the appearance of clouds. The deeper I went into the boreal forest, the more snow there was. The wind had not been able to make its way there. Protected by large coniferous ramparts, this ecosystem was silent and peaceful. My book, "Contemplation", I created it with the idea of bringing this feeling to life. This silent cold with divine allure. Between the black spruce trees, often scattered, were larch trees. Their yellow and fragile thorns fell like colored snow at the slightest gust of wind. This carpet of snow is for me a great book. The secrets of the night are written in it. For some time, near the discharge of a river, a marten seemed to have found an interest in the trout that spawned there. It was in the frozen sphagnum moss that I positioned myself to make a lookout. In front of me, in the icy water, dozens of speckled trout were swimming. Each one more magnificent and colorful than the next. I was at the water's edge and after more than an hour I could recognize some of them. Sometimes they would bite each other and at other times they would lay their eggs in the gravel while a male would fertilize them. This ballet kept my mind busy. In front of me was a tree lying down, crossing the river. A thin layer of snow covered it. I hoped that the said marten would cross this tree. After a few hours, lying on my stomach with my legs soaking in water, my body began to shake strongly. This is a moment that I usually welcome because it allows me to generate heat. I also did several contractions held with my abdomen and arms to generate heat. With this cold that was invading me, I decided to eat a little. It's one of the best ways to give your body the energy it needs to keep warm. My fingers were wet and frozen. As I opened my meal that was in a can, I cut my thumb deep. I didn't realize it right away because I couldn't feel my fingertips. It wasn't until I saw the drops of blood dripping profusely on the green moss that I realized the severity of my injury. The bleeding wouldn't stop and I had to maintain pressure and wrap my thumb in my clothes. Once the coagulation was successful, I took two small branches from a dead labrador tea bush and made chopsticks out of them to eat my meal! After a long period of waiting without success, I decided to dismantle my blind and go further. The sun was up and the simple fact of being exposed to it comforted me. Everything that had been illuminated had been stripped of its snow dress. Observing nature still awake at night, I saw small mushrooms whose hats had protected the foot from the snow. They were tube-shaped chanterelles and they were of good size. I picked some for my supper. It was while walking in the direction from which I had arrived that this little American marten appeared to me. Spirited and fast, it was watching me and would return as soon as I stopped in the woods. All I had to do was lie on the ground and wait. Every time I came across specimens of this species, I was amazed at how close they could be to us. Their curiosity is legendary and offers to the one who crosses it, a spectacle of the most unique in the world. I was able to observe it in its routine for more than an hour!