Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Saturday Sharing With Coffee. #1
Good morning and Happy Saturday to all of you! It is a nice, though cloudy, morning once more, with a temperature of 9F (-13C). The wind has arrived now and is supposed to get fairly strong today, so that might knock the frost off the trees. Although so far it is not doing anything. Still not much bird activity out there. The chickadees and nuthatches are here. I am sure glad they are around at least.
There are also a couple of blue jays. Yesterday in late afternoon, the shrike showed up and picked a chickadee right off the hanging feeder, and off he went. They sure fly fast! The other chickadees stayed frozen in position for quite a while afterward. Speaking of “fast”, that reminds me of a time I was out snowshoeing. I used to enjoy that winter activity, and I do not normally put the words “enjoy” and “winter” in the same sentence.
Anyway, I went out snowshoeing this one day years ago, by myself, something I should never do since things always seem to happen to me. But no one else I knew liked snowshoeing. It can be difficult when walking through deep, softer, snow. It requires the right kind of snowshoe, and they are rather large. But once a person gets used to walking with them, it really is not bad at all.
Everything was going fine until I came to a hill. Around here hills are common, mostly that is all we have, there is not much flat ground. I looked down this hill. I have gone down hills many times, and sometimes quite safely, when I walk down. But sometimes I tried to use the snowshoes as skis, which they are not. These snowshoes are too big for that. But I had practiced a bit since my last mishap, so I decided to give it a try again.
It was a fairly large hill, and quite steep. I just had to remember to keep the toes of the snowshoes up, so they do not dig into the snow. Off I went and everything was going good and I was going quite fast too. It was fun. Until. Suddenly my left snowshoe dug into the snow, which was about 3 feet deep on the hill. I was kind of squatting down until that happened. I suddenly stood upright, then flew forward, face first into the deep snow, and kept sliding for a bit before my shoulder hit something.
I was buried in the snow so had to quickly dig myself out. I was down near the bottom of the hill now and the snow was deeper. I measured it later and found it was 4 feet deep at that spot. I am not a tall person, so 4 feet is deep for me. My shoulder had hit a tree stump and I twisted my left ankle, again. I tried using my snowshoes, but that ankle bothered me too much, amazing how quickly it got swollen. It was really quite painful trying to walk.
But, I had to use the snowshoes, so I kept going, following my planned route which would take me back to my car, eventually. I had to walk very slowly, however, and stop frequently to rest that ankle which was getting worse all the time. I had figured the whole walk would take about 3 hours, if all went well, which it did not. It was now 4:30pm and dark. There was heavy cloud cover and it had started to snow prior to that time and there was 2 inches (5cm) of new snow.
But I soon found my trail where I had come in earlier that afternoon. It was still hard to follow it though, since it was dark and snowing, so no benefit of moonlight, and I had no flashlight with me. I was finally back at my car by 5:30pm. My ankle was throbbing terribly by then. There was also 4 inches (10cm) of new snow now. But I made it home where I could warm up and relax.
Hmm, the wind is getting stronger now, and the blue jays are back. Guess I better get them some peanuts. Sorry the pics do not match the story, but I had no camera back then. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
It seems that you are living difficult times. I do hope weather and your ankle will be better – Amitiés, dear Steve and Muffin 🙂
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Thank you so much Francefougere! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Merci beaucoup!😊😺☕☕❄️❄️
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Oh my…what a harrowing experience
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I had a few such experiences when snowshoeing, things just always seemed to happen. But I did kind of take chances too! Have a wonderful weekend!😊😺☕☕
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Would have loved to see pics of that snow and the hole you left in it where you fell.
Like you say, the best rule of thumb when going out to wooded areas, summer or winter, is to never travel alone! Friends in Alaska taught me that when I wanted to go for a hike outside Kenai. My buddy and I found where a bear had spent the night, so we were extra careful the rest of the hike, watching in case he was still around, keeping his bear horn at the ready.
The other lesson of this would be to use “tools” for what they are intended!! Snow”SHOES” are for walking; SKIs are for skiing! 🤠
But you probably have figured this out by now. 😉
BTW, thanx for all the beautiful snow scenery pics around your area recently.
Absolutely BEEauuutiful.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
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You do seem a bit accident prone Steve.
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I seem to take after my dad that way. Fortunately no real serious accidents. 🙄
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Fingers crossed 🤞
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The accident proneness of your dad seems to have passed down to you. So glad you were able to get safely back to your car. But it could have easily not have had a good outcome. If I go somewhere, walking or hiking etc. alone, I choose to go where there are others so there is a safety net if something happens. Winter can be very life threatening for chickadees and humans. Enjoy your weekend.
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Yes, I usually go to more lonely spots which is often not a good idea, especially in winter when it is easy to freeze to death. If I had broken a leg, getting back would have been very difficult. Fortunately I have settled down a bit since then and don’t take the same kind of chances I once did. Now with cell phones it does make things safer too. The only place I go alone now is down to the river and there are people who use that trail every day, even in winter. Have a great weekend!😊😺☕☕❄️❄️
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Glad you don’t venture out any longer to places it might be hard to find you! Where I live there are many areas with no cell phone coverage, sometimes including my home. ☃️😊Thank you!
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Yep, here it can be hard to get good cell phone coverage in some areas, but not close to town at least. Yep, had to give up taking chances like that now. It was exciting though.😃😺
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😊
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That poor chickadee ! 😢 Your pics are so lovely ! Do you tell anyone where you are going when you go to the river ? 😳🤔🙂😻‼️
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No, I don’t need to tell anyone that I am going to the river. I have my phone with me now so I can always call for help if I need to. Thanks so much, have a good night!😊😻🌛☕☕❄️❄️
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These little birds are sweet.
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They are definitely fun to have around, brightens up our long winter!😊😺☕☕❄️❄️
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Omg, that was scary. Thanks to God u came back home safely and giving us inspiring posts.. you should hav taken muffin at that time she could be a great help like you know? Walking away 🤔😉😹. Terrific experience though. Thanks for sharing 🤠
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Glad you enjoyed that one Simon! Yes, I did thank God that I got home safely that day! I was beginning to wonder if I would make it.🤕🥶❄️❄️ Muffin is smart enough to stay inside when there is snow on the ground! Enjoy your day Simon!😃😻❄️❄️☕☕
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Have a good day Uncle Steve 🤗😍🥰
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