It's snowing.
Snow fell. As did my friend Kristen, in snowshoes. Four times.
Overnight, the flakes began falling, and by sunrise a good few inches had already accumulated. With temps in the upper 20s (F), and precipitation still coming down, the outcome was apparent: snow day. Kristen agreed to accompany me on my first ever snowshoe excursion. I picked the venue: Beech Hill.
Acorn.
It was great. Snowshoes are great. If you live in snow country and haven’t tried them, do. We were the first humans traveling Beech Hill’s wooded trail, traversing about six inches of fresh powder, and compared to my recent hikes in mere hiking boots, this was a breeze. Oh, sure, I worked out some upper frontal thigh muscles that hadn’t felt such exertion since fall cycling, but still. It was wonderful exercise.
The snow blew in from the north-northeast. We blazed the lower trail. We were first to visit Beech Nut. Did I mention that Kristen, despite her vast snowshoe experience, fell down four times? (I crumpled to my knees just once. But I’m a novice.)
We heard, then saw, a pair of brown creepers; we heard, then saw, a pair of chickadees. We came upon an acorn nestled in a knothole by some bird.
On the way back down, we saw rabbit tracks—then, shortly after, heard a hound give voice behind us in that inimitable way hounds do. Kristen wondered if it might’ve been a rabbit hunter; I wondered if it might’ve been a hound in distress. But as we approached the parking lot, I saw sweet Greta, my friend Chuck’s German shepherd dog, and knelt down for kisses. Chuck mentioned that a new vehicle in the parking lot belonged to a rabbit hunter he knew. And then we heard gunshots. So Kristen was right.
Still, privately, I rooted for the rabbit.
Today’s List
1. American crow
2. Herring gull
3. Ring-billed gull
4. Brown creeper
5. Black-capped chickadee
6. European starling
Weeds in snow.
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, European starling, herring gull, ring-billed gull
