Mellowdene. The name was well chosen. A valley with a mellow climate and people. A wonderful place to live. Moderate rainfall, snow that rarely reaches the village and a mountain range that offers protection from the north wind. And yet, our friendship with the Polaris family has made us aware that some Sylvanians are more comfortable living in a cooler temperature.
The friendship has grown over the past couple of years. We periodically invite Pete or Paul Polaris with their families to socialise and have a meal at our house. We've dined out at the Mousehole (formerly the Seaside Restaurant) on occasion. Initially we hadn't been to their home because of travel practicalities. They have transport. We don't. And their home is... well, I will explain.
The distribution centre for their business - the Polaris Cold Store - is within walking distance. One has to follow a winding road through the foothills up an incline to a small plateau, but it isn't too stretching a journey provided that the weather isn't too extreme. As already mentioned, that is rarely a problem. (*See Hot and Cold - July 2021 - if you want to read of the time I visited the Cold Store.)
However, their home is further up the mountain. I had once been taken to see the nearby coolsalt processing plant but never to the Polaris's home. The road continues until it reaches a larger plateau where there is a community of crittizens who like the colder weather. We still consider these residences part of Mellowdene but for clarity the community has garnered the name Upper Mellowdene.
o 0 O 0 o
Cecile, the children and I were trundling along the mountain road towards Upper Mellowdene, driven by Sven Beaufort in his taxi.
"So you haven't been to the 'Upps' before," said Sven. "It can be a bit of a journey by foot. It's one of the reasons that we bought some cars. We hadn't thought of starting a taxi business back then but it sort of evolved."
"But Mellowdene Cabs are based in the village, aren't they?" said Cecile.
"Most are, since we expanded," Sven replied, "but we still have a couple in regular use for boogying up and down the mountain. It's enough since the Polarises have their own car and their delivery bikes. My brother isn't averse to providing lifts in his ice cream van, either."
Beverley's attention was grabbed by the mention of ice cream, of course.
"Do you make all your ice cream in Upper Mellowdene?" she said, attempting but failing to seem nonchalant.
"They do," said Sven, "although I prefer the fruit snow cones personally. Vincent can't understand it!"
"We sampled some of those when we visited the Cold Store, didn't we Brendan?" I said.
"Yeah," said my son. "They were yummy, Bev."
"Hmm. I'd have to sample both to make an informed choice."
Brendan winked at me. "My sister is all for the facts."
Cecile glanced at him briefly before speaking to Sven.
"What do you do about post up in the mountains? Letters and parcels?"
"Well, Pete Petite used to cycle up to the Cold Store and leave post there, collecting any outgoing mail at the same time, but we now have the Snowdrifts living up here. Cheery is a delivery driver and she is associated with the Post Office. She gets about. With her motorcycle she started carrying parcels between the main office and the Tall Trees branch, but it made sense for her to deliver mail to Upper Mellowdene. She will carry our mail down to the main office too."
"Polar bears and reindeer. A proper little community," said Cecile.
"Don't forget the penguins. And the Husky family recently moved up from the main village. I think they missed the snow. They used to live in the snowfields of the South Atlandian Mountains, you know."
"So I believe. Tara Lapine-Frost mentioned it. That's right isn't it, Jack?"
"Certainly is."
"She's been a passenger in my cab a few times," said Sven. "Coming up here to collect rocks or plants initially but she has her own garden now."
He was slowing down as we reached our destination - the Polaris's home. "Right. Here we are. Let the Polarises know when you're ready to drive back down and they'll contact me. I'll be at home until then."
We thanked him and left the taxi. He drove a short distance to some cabins nearby. Looking towards the Polaris residence I saw tiny Beth waving from the window.
We had arrived in Upper Mellowdene .
o 0 O 0 o
Barbara Polaris has prepared us a wonderful meal. A tasty brocolli and blue cheese soup for starters and for the main course a pastry lattice with a vegetable and mixed nut filling. Perfectly seasoned with just a hint of spice to give extra warmth.
Cecile complemented the chef and how she enjoyed that touch of warmth.
"Home grown spices," said Barbara.
"Yes," said Pete Polaris, wiping the last morsel of sauce from his plate, "it might be chillier up here but that touch of heat even suits we psychrophilic critters."
"Psycho what?" asked Brendan. Trust my son.
"Psychrophilic," explained Pete. "Critters who thrive in lower temperatures."
"Unlike psycho bunnies like you, Brendan," commented Beverley. "Thriving in being daft."
"Thank you, Beverley," said Cecile, glancing at me. "I think the cold has gone to our daughter's head. Maybe that ice cream dessert isn't a good idea..."
"No!" Beverley interjected hurriedly. "I was just joking. Brendan knows that, don't you?" she added, eyes pleading with her brother.
"Hmm. Let me see..."
There were chuckles around the table. During the hilarity, I happened to notice a secret signal Barbara gave her husband. Pete nodded and Barbara responded by raising her voice. Some sort of announcement, perhaps?
"Speaking of ice cream desserts," she said, "I'm afraid that must be postponed. We have something planned..."
"It's not my fault, Bev," whispered Brendan. "I've got some sweeties at home; you can have a couple afterwards."
Barbara smiled at our children. "You won't miss out. What you need to do is go and wash your paws, freshen up and check you are warmly dressed, for you are going to be taken on a short walk towards the Ice Lake."
o 0 O 0 o
The Ice Lake is at the far end of Upper Mellowdene. The region gets progressively colder as one approaches the lake. It is an unusual body of water. You might expect a thick sheet of ice over the water - ideal for skating - but it isn't like that. There is a place nearby where critters can and do skate...
...but Ice Lake is different. The water is very cold, and penguins frequently swim in its depths. There is an element of ice - millions of tiny ice spheres - each roughly the size of a pea - covering the entire water surface to a depth of four or five peas, all refusing to stick together. It doesn't hinder the swimmers, slipping through the ice layer to the water below.
The ice pellets form when some of the water from an adjacent mountain stream overflows and feeds into Ice Lake. The stream is one of many that joins to reach both Sweetwater Lake and the waterfalls that feed our river.
I don't know all the details, but it wouldn't surprise me if the unusual ice properties are caused by passing through a hollow that is an outlier to Coldmount Peak. This rocky structure attracts the worst of the weather from the north and dissipates it. I suspect Coldmount Peak is another reason Mellowdene rarely gets storms and truly bad weather; something beyond the physical barrier of the mountains. Coldmount Peak captures the lightning, attracts the hail, and channels it elsewhere.
I didn't know that Ice Lake held other secrets. Paul Polaris took us up to meet the Waddle penguins and they were happy to explain. It seemed our Polaris friends had arranged this surprise tour.
"It's like a garden down there," said Ozzy Waddle. "We don't dive too low, unlike our DeBurg neighbours. They go really low, tend the water plants and harvest their bounty."
"You mean you get food from the lake bed?" said Cecile.
"Oh yes. Together with the produce from the Snowfluffs at Polarstar farm I'd say Upper Mellowdene was about eighty per cent self sufficient with regard to food."
"That's amazing", said Cecile, "but don't you suffer frost damage?"
"Heated beds, sheltered growing units. The Snowfluffs are excellent winter horticulturalists."
"But the Beauforts will need some lactolia plants for ice-cream," Beverley commented. "The Buttercups have the best crop in the county. We went on a school visit."
"Violet Beaufort has some lactolia rootstock they use as a catalyst but surprisingly that amounts to little. We Waddles provide the alternative. Beaufort's ice cream primarily uses chillweed."
"Chillweed?"
"It looks similar to some seaweeds but is the palest blue. It keeps naturally cold and it takes on the flavour of other ingredients in a recipe. In some cases it enhances the flavour. That's the reason why the Beauforts don't eliminate lactolia completely. With only a small amount of lactolia added to the chillweed, the Beauforts have optimised the flavour."
"Is that why the ice cream from their van tastes different to that bought in shops?"
"You noticed that?" laughed Ozzie. "You must be an ice cream aficionado. The Beauforts create a top quality product. We taught them all they know about processing chillweed. They don't have our range but they are experts in what they do."
Beverley's interest visibly increased. "You make more flavours of ice cream than the Beauforts?"
"We certainly do. Not just ice cream, though. We do snow cones without lactolia. Some others will taste creamy but use other plants to give it a unique flavour."
Brendan piped in. "I think Beverley wants to know what particular flavours you make."
"Does she, my lad?" said Ozzie. "Well, young lady, we've done the usual vanilla, chocolate, honey and fruit flavours. The Snowfluffs' farm and the cold gardens increase our options. Some recipes you may like - such as carrot ice cream, I suspect. You may not find our range of fish ice creams as palatable."
Brendan laughed. "Sounds horrid. Can I try it?"
Ozzie gave Cecile a questioning look. Not me, I noted. Our new penguin friend had assessed my wife correctly as the boss in our family. Cecile answered with a short nod and Ozzie gestured to his smiling wife nearby.
"Sapphire, my dearest? Would you take these two lovely young bunnies for a tasting of our latest batch?"
We watched our two oldest children follow Sapphire Waddle to a nearby cabin. Regarding the landcape around us, I was glad Russell remained at the Polaris home to play with Beth.
Cecile turned back to Ozzie.
"You mentioned cold gardens. What are they?"
"They are what they sound like. Like some others in the rest of Mellowdene, there is an attraction to grow plants or home-grown food in small allotments. It requires different skills in these temperatures, but it's a popular hobby up here. We've even got some Lower Mellowdene gardeners maintaining plants here. That chemist lady, for example. I think she grows some medicinal plants."
"Tara?"
"Yes, I think that's her name."
"Cultivating blue feathermint, maybe," I commented, remembering our friend's story of a trek to the ice fields on a neighbouring island. Yes, she would be practical in such matters.
"I don't know about that," said Ozzie, "but it might explain why she's chosen to locate her cold garden at the end of Upper Mellowdene nearest to Coldmount Peak. If her plants need even lower temperatures, that's the place to be. Good job she has a friend with a skidoo to help her when needed."
o 0 O 0 o
Our time in Upper Mellowdene had been quite educational. A community within our community, working together up there in the cold.
We had learned of one our friend Tara's projects. We had been surprised at their level of self-sufficiency. An actual farm. We had discovered the origins of the Mellowdene Cab Company. Realised there were now links to the Mellowdene Post Office. Peter Polaris had pointed out a passage beyond the family home that led to his place of work - the Coolsalt Processing Plant. I had seen DeBurg Penguins enter the waters of Ice Lake, the pebbles parting easily so that they could dive to the horticultural treasures below. We had seen the changing landscape affected by Coldmount Peak.
And we had seen Brendan's face after eating a fish flavoured ice cream.
o 0 O 0 o
