Black flies and mosquitoes have, thankfully disappeared, so outside activities can proceed with out those annoyances.  I encourage you to get out and enjoy and observe our Byway features and history now that the foliage is down.  Old foundations and cellar holes, pre historic sand dunes and other geology make for good photography with the sun angle so low in the sky. We should still remain vigilant for deer ticks, because they are still feeding and looking for warm places.

But to have insects displaced by snow flurries even in the warm part of the day is a bit premature.  Curt Schreiner, an even more avid cross country skier than me, says,

The weather is toying with us.

Is it mid winter or is it still fall? Maybe in another month we will be able to tell. In the meantime, all we can do is let Mother Nature take her fickle course, and dress accordingly for outside activities on the Mohawk Towpath Byway.