Snapshots Of Snowshoeing A Snow Day

            Did you catch the alliteration?  The “S’s” of Snapshot, Snowshoeing, and Snow day brings you into an English class on a day when school was cancelled.  That’s alliteration as well as ironic.  This blog is mostly pictures, so I’m not going to write much other than to say that today was a good day to slowly pull out of a funk from recent pressures.  After waking early this morning, and getting something to eat, I shoveled the driveway.  Since there was a lot of snow to move, I took my time.  I used the shoveling as “delayed gratification” so I could do something else later in the day that was perhaps a bit more enjoyable.  After catching my breath, Cindy and I jumped into our Jeep and ran a few errands before lunch.  Once we were home I took a needed nap, and then I threw some gear together to head out to the snowy woods.

            My parents gave me my own pair of snowshoes on Christmas day back in 1989.  Cindy and I used to have them hanging crisscrossed in our apartment when we were first married.  Friends used to wonder if they were “real.”  Although loved, they were “City Slickers.”  My snowshoes are made of green ash and rawhide, with bindings that my Dad made from old inner tubes.  Appropriately, they are Michigan style snowshoes; which simply means they are not as long as the Alaskan style, and not quite as round as the Bear Paw style.  In other words, they keep you on top of the snow while allowing you to maneuver in tight situations.

            My dog Kora and I went out to a favorite area for several hours.  I saw four bald eagles while trekking along (two that were mature with their white head), and one pileated woodpecker (it’s almost the size of a crow).  After snowshoeing in, I heated some water over my Emberlit stove for a cup of hot cocoa.  Cindy and I are now wrapping up the day by watching the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.  For the next 18 days we’ll be able to watch people from around the world who also enjoy the activities associated with the snow, cold, and ice.

            See you along The Way…

Finished Shoveling The Driveway

Christmas 1989

Heading Out At The Day's End