Winter Walks

 I'm not a fan of winter.  I love bright green growing things and warm breezes.  I like watching my chickens dig in the dirt instead of huddling in the coop.  I like to dig my own hands in the dirt, rather than stare morosely at my snow-covered raised beds.  Really, I just want to hibernate from about mid-December to about mid-April.  However, this year I'm trying to get outside more often and exercise, and try to find things to enjoy about the deep freeze.  Therefore, earlier this month, I bought snowshoes.  

I've been out on them a few times and it's good exercise.  I didn't realize how much different it would be to regular walking.  There is a park quite close to me that has some snowshoe trails.  In theory, they are quite pretty.  I prefer them when all is bright green and growing, but still, at least it gives me a place to go and wander.  As you can see in the photo below, there are also ski trails, and I will try to get out on my skis soon as well.

But when I sit down for a short rest and I'm faced with this...it's just not very appealing to me.  It all seems so bleak and grey and dreary.

The trails get used quite heavily, and after a few days, snowshoeing wasn't really as effective.  Using snowshoes on trails with packed snow is sort of like trying to snowshoe in your living room.  The snowshoes just get in the way.  However, I'm still going for walks.  A couple of days ago, it rained for several hours, which is quite unusual for this time of year here.  That made all the trails a slushy, icy mess, because it went back into deep freeze mode the next day.

Today I went for a walk with my yak-trax on my boots, to ensure that I didn't have any tumbles.  I've found two new-to-me trails not far from where I live that go through the woods and provide me with 2.5 km loop walks.  So I'm trying to do one or both of them at least 3 days a week.  A friend of mine has gone with me a few times and she took a picture of me looking at lichen on a tree the other day.  We have to maintain 2 metres of social distancing to be able to go on the trail together, but at least it's a good way to connect for a while.

I'm also finding lots of lichen to photograph and I've purchased a field guide to lichens to try to learn how to identify the species in my area.  In the meantime, I still take the odd photograph to record my snowy walks and try to appreciate the winter quiet.  

I like walking beside this creek, which is still running and not frozen over.  It makes a very soothing watery soundtrack for walking.

So I'm half hibernating, and half trying to get outside.  It's still something I have to force myself to do, but maybe eventually I'll start to appreciate some aspects of winter.