A Walk in the Winter Woods

A winter storm was predicted for the northeastern U.S. on this day. We decided to get outside early for a quick walk before the bad weather moved in. So we headed up the hill in mid-morning for a hike in the nearby gameland.

On our way up the hill, I organized the rescue of a tiny fuzzy creature that turned out to be a vole, which appeared to be sleeping on the road. It was motionless, curled up in a ball. And I wondered if it had been harmed in some way. But at closer glance, it appeared to be completely fine. Napping, perhaps, but not in a safe place at all.

So I took off my hat and tossed it on top of the vole, with plans to pick up the vole and move it off the road. Except that when I reached for my hat to pick it up, the vole - now fully awake and functional - skittered out from under my hat at lightning speeds, startling the bejeepers out of me! My husband and I both laughed as we watched it disappear into the snow along the side of the road. Where presumably it lived happily ever after!

(Now, here is something that I don't think I have mentioned before: when I publish my tiny photo books, the name that I use for my publishing house is Skittering Vole Press. Now you know why I found this little event unusually amusing!)

When we got to the gamelands, we found the woods themselves already snow-covered from last week's storms. The trails are well used, though, so we didn't have any problems getting around. This is a picture of my husband walking ahead of me on one of the trails.

We arrived home just as the first few snowflakes started to fall. The storm provided several inches of new snow, and finally a crust of ice on top of it all, just before it ended. We were the lucky ones - we'd already had our fresh air and exercise, and so we got to sit inside and simply watch it snow!

The song: Carly Simon, Let It Snow.