Where do the fish go in the winter?  Do they hibernate?  Do they bury themselves in the bottom of the rivers and ponds somehow?  The fresh waters of Blackstone Valley have two types of fish:  warm water and cold water varieties.

During the cold months, warm water varieties such as bass and sunfish slow down and lower their metabolism.  They can go for long periods of time without eating, a good thing considering their food supply is extremely limited in the winter months.

Other fish such as the three Ps (pickerel, perch and pike) are still active in cold water.  That means they are hungry and will go after bait.  This works out well for the ice fisherman, not so well for the pickerel, perch and pike.  Trout are the exception:  they slow down in winter waters but can still be enticed to go for the bait of fishermen.

There is a scientific explanation.  Fish are poikilothermous (cold-blooded); their body temperature follows that of the environment.  While they are regulated by nutrition, photoperiod (daily length of light exposure) and water temperature, the reduction of temperature is what causes their metabolisms to slow, some species more than others.  In fact, some species actually experience brief superficial freezing or super cooling (without freezing) and remain alive.  Fish that are active or semi active in the winter usually seek areas of deeper water where only the top layer freezes into ice.

Come to think of it, one usually sees ice fishermen on ponds and lakes, never on a shallow stream.

Ever since New England was colonized in the early 17^th century, dealing with the frigid conditions of winter has been a challenge.  It was a startling change for settlers recently arrived from England to realize that their new home had more snow than they were used to but also much colder temperatures.

In February and March of 1717, “The Great Snow” covered southern New England in a series of four storms.  It deposited nearly 4 feet on the ground and drifts were reported as high as 25 feet.  Roads were impassable, communities were isolated and supplies did not move overland or along the coastal waterways.  The only successful post runner from New York to Boston made the trip on snowshoes.

In November of 1798, the region was hit with “The Long Storm;” from Maryland to Maine nearly continuous snow fell between the 17^th and 21st.  Another notable storm in December of 1811, “The Cold Storm” of 1857 and the “Blizzard of ‘88” all made the record books.

Snow and how to handle it became a focus of communities large and small.  In the rural towns, early snow removal depended on shoveling the white stuff out of the road.  While it was not until the 1840s that the first patents were issued on snow plows, New Englanders came up with an earlier invention – the snow roller.  It was a large wooden cylinder drawn by horses over roads to compact the surface and make the snow more or less uniform.  It allowed sleds to proceed with fewer ruts and it was also safer for horses and riders.

But I’ll take the orange trucks any day!

Every time I look out at my yard I see juncos.  They are the first ones to arrive and the last to leave.  During the recent cold weather, I spent some time with a cup of tea watching these little visitors who had turned into roly poly balls of feathers accented by beaks and legs.

At first I felt sorrow for them until I realized that the temperature didn’t bother them in the least.  As long as birds can feed, they will do just fine in frigid weather.  Most species use the cover of evergreens or natural cavities to protect themselves and birds can lower their body temperature, heart rate and metabolism to adapt to the cold.  Plus they have all that natural insulation.  Juncos fluff up their feathers creating a layer of air between the feathers and the skin, a tiny down jacket that adds warmth and girth creating their ball-like appearance.

The little juncos may not have the glam of the cardinals or the audacity of the blue jays, but I think these little guys are the life of the bird feeder party.  They rarely exceed about five inches in length.  The dark-eyed junco, Junco hyemalis, is one of the most common birds in North America.  There is much variation in color from one subspecies of junco to the other.  The ones in my backyard are eastern dark-eyed juncos or the slate-colored juncos.  There are dark slate gray feathers on the heads, chest and upper body and white feathers on the lower breast and abdomen.  Their bills are pink and their distinctively long tails are very dark gray with flashes of white feathers on the outside edges.  Of course, those are the males…the females are decked out in much less distinctive shades of brown and gray.  Isn’t that always the case?

Horsford was a Harvard professor who, in 1856, began his experiments to develop a leavening agent that was not yeast-based.  A leavening agent causes a chemical reaction – it creates gas bubbles that softens doughs and batters, increasing their volumes and lightening their texture.  Horsford wanted to invent a powder leavening agent that would release carbon dioxide, raising the dough but without the taste and odor of yeast fermentation.

Horsford set up his chemical works in the Rumford section of East Providence.  He tested a number of substances before settling on a combination of calcium acid phosphate, sodium bicarbonate and, eventually, corn starch.  His “recipe” was that one teaspoon of the leavening agent should raise a dough/batter of one cup of flour, one cup of liquid and one egg.   He first marketed this new product as Horsford’s Yeast Powder.  He was very successful.  In 1869, because he wanted to package the powder in a tin can, he added corn starch to prevent moisture.  Over the years, bakers throughout the world have become familiar with the iconic red can of Rumford Baking Powder, whose formula has remained unchanged in 1869.  In 2006, Rumford Baking Powder was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark.  Rumford Baking Powder remains the leading baking powder in the United States.