The Winter season in Hoosic Woods is cold and bleak, an almost despair for life, motionless and inert. Despite Winter's purity of color in snow, there is an angry old man side to Winter here, an angry old man who couldn't smile even on his birthday. This angry old man finds life in Hoosic Woods to be disdainful, something to shun and snarl about. As such, Visitors are few. The woods are just cold and bleak. Many animals have migrated to warmer temperatures where trees thrive, springs flow, and the wealth of the forest sustains life.

 

The animals who remain in the woods during Winter must store food that will last till Spring. Others, like toads and frogs hibernate in a deep sleep in the mud of a bog or swamp. Beavers hunker down in their lodge. Bears hibernate in their caves. Opossum and raccoon stay warm in their nests and forage for food. Deer and their young find shelter under branches of pine trees and venture out to explore a farmer's harvested field for grain and scratch the forest floor for acorns under oak trees.

 

Many birds migrate to warmer temperatures for the Winter, but those that stay must construct strong and warm nests to withstand blizzards and high winds. Robins and blue jays are long gone. Meadow larks, woodpeckers, doves, and finches are nowhere to be seen. Sparrows and wrens are few. Owls, hawks, and crows stay through the Winter, and as such, the three crow buddies, Howard, Charlie, and Bruce are daily perched on their favorite branch of the Colonel Fosdick oak tree, contemplating the woods and cogitating the environs.

The three brothers of the branch are challenged in the Winter to daily continue their perching on this special branch, but sometimes the weather conditions are so terrible with snowstorms and high winds that the three crows struggle to travel to the branch or when perched on the branch, struggle to hold on. Today is such a challenging day for the three, bitterly cold, high winds, and blowing snow. Old Man Winter is snarling and grumbling.

 

"Bad weather today," said Charlie. "I had trouble flying to the branch. I flipped over a bunch of times, and the snow blinded me. I thought I was lost until I saw the oak."

 

"Sho enuff!" exclaimed Bruce. "Never seen it so bad out there. Like flying with blinders on. My momma is nursing a bruised wing and wanted me to stay put for the day, hunker down, and wait for a break in the weather, but

 

"Not me!" I told her. My buddies are waitin for me at the branch."

 

Howard was silent and rigid like a statue on the branch, letting the wind blow through his feathers. He was encrusted with snow and ice and didn't move. Only his eyes blinked. Charlie and Bruce were constantly moving from side to side, the wind howling through their feathers. They stared straight ahead neither looking left or right. All three crows faced north with the wind blowing into their faces. Their mood was grim.

 

"Gentlemen!" announce Howard. "I am pondering these weather conditions with steadfast courage, respect, and as much insight and wisdom that I can muster so as to ascertain the reasonableness of continuing our perch on the branch today."

 

"Come on, Howard!" shouted Bruce. "Say what you mean! Straight talk! No "fancy-dancy" stuff."

 

Shaking off the snow and ice, encrusted on his feathers and side-stepping carefully between wind gusts, Howard continued.

 

"What I mean, Bruce, is that the weather conditions are beyond challenging for me as, I am sure, they are for you. My sense of remaining on the branch raises a serious question. We might be wise to abandon our watch for today and return to our roosts."

 

"I put an all-out effort traveling to the branch today," said Charlie. "I'd have to put in that same effort to return to McNulty's tool shed. Maybe we just hang in here a little while longer. The storm might subside."

 

"Right on! I'm with Charlie," said Bruce. "Plus, my momma is resting at home and doesn't need me rousting her while her wing heals."

 

Just then a swirling blast of wind and snow wreaked havoc to their perch, requiring each crow to double their grip on the branch. Their feathers ruffled wildly, and they clamped their beaks shut with controlled determination to not yield to the wintry blast. Like three statues of stone, the crows stood their ground in silence and gritty determination. They were desperate to stay and desperate to leave.

 

"My laddies!" growled Howard. "We will remain at our post, keep our bond, and endure this storm, hoping for an easing of its power and force. We will not give in to the storm's provoking nastiness and uncivilized behavior.

 

The snowstorm continued its fury and the brothers of the branch remained strong, griping tightly to the branch, awaiting some respite. Their feathers ruffled violently, and with each gust of wind, their grasp grew more tenuous. Would the storm subside? When? Could their grips endure? Such were the questions roaming through their crow-brains. They stood their ground like statues, hoping for relief.

 

A change of wind direction was the first indication to the crows that relief might be coming. The wind now blew into their backs and had less intensity. The snow fall reduced to flurries and the sun began to glint gray-yellow from behind the storm clouds. The time of clearing was indeed approaching.

 

Their grips on the branch loosened a bit and their snow encrusted feathers were easier to rustle, and their wings flapped more easily. Then, as if by some mystical command, the three crows lifted off the branch, rotated 180 degrees and returned to the branch facing south with the wind again in their faces, but blowing with less strength. As resolute and "at attention" as if in a military inspection, the brothers of the branch were returning to cogitating the woods.

 

They watched the woods slowly come to life for the residents. Mouse and family tentatively set out from their burrow, scurrying about for food of any kind. The chipmunks and squirrels were burrowing through the snow with watchful eyes for owls and hawks that might be looking for a meal. Over time, larger animals began to appear – racoon, opossum, skunk, some deer and a fawn. These animals slowly ruminated about looking through the snow for snacks and meals for their young.

 

"Looks like the woods is coming alive again," said Charlie. "I'm glad we persisted and stayed to see the storm clear."

 

"Just better without all that snow and wind," said Bruce. "That wind can suck the life out of ya. Ya know?"

 

"Well my lads," sounded Howard. "Our persistence has paid off enormously, allowing us to witness the woods' hidden life-blood once again pulsing through its veins.... A truly wonderful gift from the gods."

 

Each crow vigorously shook snow from their feathers and side-stepped to kick snow from the branch. A smile slowly returned to each of their faces as they watched the woods come back to life and reaffirm their decision to persist on the branch and not give in to the storm's fury. Howard, Charlie, and Bruce were aglow with the satisfaction that their persistence was stronger than the storm and that their decision to stand firm reinforced their brotherhood.