Chapter 13, December, Blizzards and Wailing Winds Summary and Analysis

Snow covers the North Country; blizzards are a constant fact of life. Life is absent from the countryside. In the mornings, the windows are covered with crystals. Jim admires the frost pictures and the designs of snow flakes. Frost seems so normal that we forget it changes the shape of the land. Jim sometimes hears the lynx that live around the area. Weasel tracks abound. The fur of animals is at its best during December, and trappers are aware of this fact. The only birds in the area have grown winter coats, and Jim often helps them out with food in squirrel-proof feeders.

On Christmas, Jim, Hank and the Chief decorate a spruce with bird food. It is often difficult to get a fire going to cook one's own food, but...