the wonder of winter ~ 1 of 2

Truth be told, life has been hard(er) lately. Making it more challenging to keep the many blessings that make up my world, in the forefront of my mind and heart.

Just like every snowflake that falls, every day is completely different. 

Yet comfortably similar. It is the differences, that fuel my curiosity. The similarity gives me deep appreciation, for all that surrounds me.

I woke up literally and figuratively, to be reminded of the wonder of winter. Wow! What a sight to behold!! 

I have seen our trees covered in snow many many times. Yet, my eyes cannot believe the incredible sight of being enveloped in beautiful soft shades of white, green and brown.

Overcast skies add to the mystical surround sound wonder of a wintery view.

Nemo & Harmony

Views cannot be duplicated with photos or video, although we humans do try. Replication is the next best thing to an in-person experience.

Nemo with a snowstash

Tank and I headed out to wander the woods. Our timing was perfect. Not too cold, not too hot, no wind and no timeframe. Kinda like the Three Bears experience. Only there were two of us. Jameson is recovering from his second surgery to remove fatty tumors.

Every single wintery sight made me wonder.

We started our hike by headed down to the area I call "where the wild things live" to reinsert a trail camera card. Tank ran, dove and popped snow up the entire way. His favorite thing to do. Next to carrying oversized branches, playing with tiny wood chips, zoomies, stealing socks, sleeping by a warm fireplace ~ correction ~ Tank loves everything!

Lessons to learn from a dog.

not today Tank

Our usual route includes a small but steep hill down into the hollow. I only attempt going up the hill in the Winter, until that also becomes too slippery.

path to where the wild things live

a newer trail Brad created, looked sooo inviting

Our dogs are not usually allowed to walk this part of our land. Occasionally if there is deep snow coverage. It borders a small closed town dump. Broken sharp debris has worked up/over onto our property. Hard to tell broken glass to stay on its own side of the property line. My guess is the entire general area was used as a dumping ground, to some degree. Too bad, it is so pretty and offers different terrain.

For now, we enjoy the area as is. Without our four legged family. This area is the furthest away from our house and therefore last on our lengthy list of land projects to tackle. I've written about it before. Planting a prairie may never happen, but Brad assures me we will eventually work on making trails safer for all of us to enjoy together.

Tank and I turned around and walked the bordering field, over towards the Y path. 

Tank got to play London Bridge

I wondered if Tank would go around the bent tree. Silly me. He ran underneath it a buncha times. Me, I went around it.

We did a loop-de-loo through the hollow, and enjoyed more winter sights before heading onto other trails.

"Ma, are you coming?"

The main trail was a mess. Many trees were bent over, under the weight of heavy wet snow. Not passable, unless you are shorter. Like Tank.

Um, yah ~ no

We bushwacked our way through the woods to go around the many warped trees. I was thankful for my poles. They worked really well crossed, to clear the many small branches that would otherwise be smacking my face.

There were not many animal tracks to be found on any of our trails. Just a lot of gorgeous snow covered trees. It reminded me of Alaska.

The bent trees will eventually pop back up. I came across scattered broken tree limbs, mostly pine branches. Nothing major, they will be easy to clear.

I also noticed the most unusual thing. Every day nature teaches me something new.

...to be continued.