Sunday, January 04, 2015

Snow Days










By now, most regular "Slight Detour" readers have probably concluded that I'm not a fan of winter.  In fact, one of the talking points in most my conversations with newcomers involves how much I love living in this community where I was born.  

Then, comes the qualifier---except for January through March.  

That's when most folks who've lived here a year or two and who've generally had enough of winter after two days plan their temporary exits to places where the sun shines and the ground remains bare. 

Well, I don't have any big trips planned-----yet, and so far, I haven't found winter too bad. Of course, the fact that we haven't had much of it probably helps. 

The other factor that often helps me get over the fact that we no longer have bare ground for walking comes in the form of snow shoes. 

Mine came out of the closet yesterday, and I strapped them on a couple of times for some enjoyable passes through the fields and the woods. 

In both cases, the experience was exhilarating, not only because of the scenery and the playful dogs accompanying me but also because it felt good to get out and work out some of the blahs my holiday body has been feeling. 

The snow was perfect with enough of it to cushion every step and with a soft consistency that made breaking trail easier than usual. 

I've walked those same areas around the place numerous times this year, but a new blanket of snow creates a whole different scene for admiration and appreciation. 

Bill has several wood piles throughout his forest, all of which were pleasing to the eye yesterday.  

I also noticed that he had broken some trails the day before when he took his sled out to load up some wood for the stove. 

Nothing like a sled loaded down with wood to open the way through deep snow.  Upon noticing the trails and taking advantage of them, I thought he could take this project a step further by getting some harnesses for the Border Collies and letting them pull the sled. 

I don't know what the dogs think of that idea, but with all their energy, they may just jump at the chance to have one more job.  Maybe Foster could ride on the pile of wood as their mascot.

Foster loves the snow, and it seems to love him.  Toweling off takes on a whole new dimension when he comes to the house with snowballs hanging from all the feathers on his legs and belly. 

Last week, we even had to get the hairdryer out to melt the snowballs which stuck to the little guy like velcro. 

I'll probably strap on the snow shoes again today, as more snow is falling, and it would be good to keep those trails open.  

If the snow pack stays as is, I probably won't gripe about winter for a while, and since we're four days into January, maybe it will all go by faster than usual this year, and I won't have to gripe at all.  

For now, no complaints, especially cuz that snow shoeing does help take off the extra holiday fat.  

By the way we did NOT eat Laurie last night.  She decided the sheet cake had seen its final days on the mobile food carts.  So, no cake came to the house.  No Laurie for dessert.  

Still, we ate very well with the pulled pork, barbecued ribs, pie, etc. while watching those ZAGS take another sweet victory. 

Happy Sunday. 


1 comment:

Kamyria said...

Oh, winter or no winter, these pictures make me want to move into deep country even more. It's beautiful out there. Happy Sunday to you too!