A Winter Walk

 Winter. 

Up until this winter, the coldest thermometer reading I've ever seen is -19. Once. On December 30th, the thermometer read -27 and it got worse from there. We've had 4 days off of school due to the cold (I enjoyed those!) plus 2 more for snow, and I've been in wind chills in the -40s. There have been more days below zero this year than above. Some days, the high was negative. The high! I now know that I could survive winter in Alaska, because at a certain point, you stop caring what the temperature is and just keep putting coats on. 

With the weather the way it's been, we haven't done many things outside. Getting the snowmobiles running has been low on the list, somewhere behind plow the driveway, keep the wood stove going, and avoid frostbite, so today the weather was a little warmer, and we wanted to do something to take advantage of it. Not to mention do something that would wear the puppy out. So, we decided to showshoe!

The fella has had a pair of snowshoes for a few years, and a few weeks ago we went on a candlelight snowshoe walk with a local rod and gun club. I had to borrow a pair, and it was the first time I had ever used them. It's way easier than it seems, and even a klutz like me was able to walk upright (I can't say the same for this walk, but that's fine). First of all, the candlelight walk was one of the coolest things that I've done. It was on one of the rare nights this year that the temperature was in the 20s, the light from the battery operated candles lit a path through the snow-covered woods, and a friend brought glow sticks, so we walked with the faint glow of greens, blues, and purples from our wrists.

Today, we set out for the family farm after playing around the yard with Daisy.

I love when she flips the Frisbee up and the snow flies in her face!

After some Frisbee throwing and an attempted snow angel (mine, not Daisy's), we set off on our adventure. 

The fella took the lead first as we followed the snowmobile trail to the spot where we veered off and took on the woods.

Once we left the trail, walking became a little more difficult, so we took turns breaking trail, which is harder than it looks. The snowshoes are awkward as it is, add high-stepping into calf deep snow and enter thigh pain. The fella's trail was much better than mine which looked like "Sasquatch got drunk." His words, not mine!

A beautiful cloudless sky :)

Once we got to the tent that we have set up and knocked off all of the accumulated snow, we headed back home. On the way back, we used the snowmobile trail which made for much easier, not to mention downhill, walking. Winter's not so bad when there are things to do besides wasting away inside!

Now, I'm going to go put on another sweater...