Figure 1- After the first snow, Habitat Conservation Land and Wildlife Refuge, Belmont, MA, 10/31/20. (c) DE Wolf 2020.

Friday was an October surprise snow storm – both the first snow and the first significant snow! In this area we got four to five inches. It was glorious: fall leaves not yet gone and wet snow turning everything magical. Before it melted on Saturday, we went on two walks. The first was to the Habitat Conservation Land and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont. MA. The second was to the Rock Meadow Conservation land, also in Belmont, MA. It was truly a photographer’s paradise. Figure 1 from Habitat defines the scene – a leaf strewn path into the forest, snow clinging to everything. It was a curious moment, when the one season slipped away and the other came upon us suddenly. If you view winter as the nadir then the day was truly the precipice of the abyss.