Winter Walks

 

Bill has been working nearly every single day for the past month or so, 'cept weekends, of course.

It's that time of the year when owners of forested lands are hoping to get a timber tax exemption. 

To do so, they need to provide information and have a forester associated with the reports they submit. 

So, I'm guessing after New Year's Eve, he'll be hanging out at home on a regular basis. 

With the Christmas hubbub completed and Annie's return to Seattle, I suddenly noticed a whole lot more time in my day yesterday.  

And, what a gorgeous day to have some extra time.

I made the most of the opportunity, taking several walks with the dogs and even by myself. 

The dogs make wonderful companions, as do the horses, but this ol' gal occasionally likes to check in with peeps.  

I like engaging in hermitage but also delight in short breaks from the solitude. 

With thoughts in the back of my mind of stopping off at Mark and Janice's for a quick outdoor visit, I put the dogs inside and headed north on our country road. 

It was an exhilarating experience because I hadn't walked the road much lately.  With no snow, the fields around our house have sufficed. 

With snow, though, my lazy legs and feet would prefer relatively clear surfaces.  

Though the road was ice packed where the cars travel, both sides were perfectly safe with layers of light snow. 

I did some zigzagging during my walk.  Usually I follow the rules of the road, walking on the side facing the traffic.  

Still, it seems safest when I see a car coming to move to the other side of the road, giving the driver plenty of room to pass by without worrying about wiping out an old lady. 

So, several times both coming and going, I took very careful steps over the ice pack to get to the other side of the road and then back again, once the cars had passed. 

Often during these crossovers, my brain goes a little crazy with the vision of my slipping and falling and then rolling around like a sack of potatoes trying desperately to get up before the oncoming car squashes me. 

No worries!  

These crossover decisions allow plenty of time for me to roll to the other side of the road if necessary. 

Anyway, it was a nice walk, and on my way back, I did turn into Johnson's driveway, soon seeing Mark outside.  

He wasted no time going to the house to summon Janice, who dressed warmly before coming out. 

With my leaning against their board fence and their standing at least 30 feet away near their house, we got the neighborhood gabfest started. 

First, we talked birds.  

One of their stories involved three cedar waxwings which had gorged themselves to death while feeding off from their chokecherry tree. 

I had no idea until yesterday that Mark is an avid bird watcher.  

Later, our conversation topics involved highlights of what we've done and how we've endured this past year. 

I think everyone has an overflowing bag of 2020 stories, and with the tales seeming a bit like war stories, every tidbit uttered is rich with commonality and personal history which we'll never forget.

It was fun taking that walk and talking to my dearly beloved neighbors. 

I'm looking forward to filling up the winter days with similar outings, maybe even doing some snowshoeing with other friends sometime this week. 

Happily these open-air get togethers are all safe, and with the beauty that winter has been doling out of late, the memories are sure to be precious. 

And, of course, they're always good for my camera. 

Happy Tuesday.  

Three more days!

  

I did not take this picture yesterday.  I took it a few years ago. 

 While Mark, Janice and I were talking birds yesterday, I told them about this visitor which showed up out of nowhere and hung around long enough for bird lovers  to drive up from Moscow in mid-January that year to see it.

Mark, it's called a brown thrasher, which is rarely seen in this part of the country. 

I couldn't remember the species name, but having published this blog for 16 years, a trip to the archives helped jog my memory. 

So, there ya go, Mark.