Recently, we have been having a lot of snow. Just yesterday, another snowstorm brought about 20 cm of snow, mixed at times with rain and freezing rain – all with enough wind to obliterate the walking path several times.
If you want to see our weather, here is a site for a highway webcam in our area: Mt_Thom Webcam
I spent the morning clearing the snow from essential locations: a path to the outhouse, a snowshoe path to the car, plus clearing the area where the car is parked and around the mailbox, so the mail can be delivered. My daily exercise “requirement” is thus fulfilled. I have a gym membership but rarely go. I much prefer outdoor activities, and this winter I’ve been able to do lots of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing around where we live. The TV news showed quite a few accidents and cars off the road yesterday. It’s great not to have the work pressure any more, and the worry about whether I would be able to make it to work, or be stuck there unable to come home.
I have a folding garden chair, which I use to put the snowshoes on. While sitting in the chair today, and the warm sun shining, it felt like an après-ski location in the Alps – only it’s my back yard!
While snow clearing, I enjoy the surrounding nature. There are not many birds around right now. The most noticeable are the crows, as you hear them crowing at length nearby. Sometimes I see some black-capped chickadees, or the occasional spruce grouse flutters away when I get near her tree resting spot. And I admire the diamond-like sparkle on the trees, brought about by the ice covering the branches from yesterday’s freezing rain. So much beauty!
I want to get more into photography, to record some of this beauty for posterity. But it’s difficult to capture the essence of a scene – the icicles never sparkle as much as in nature. One of my retirement projects is to learn nature photography.
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