Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Snowshoeing And…
Hi everyone and welcome back to another adventure snowshoeing! This is something that happened a few years back. Wouldn’t even need snowshoes this winter, just not enough snow out there to worry about, easy walking without snowshoes. For those of you who may not know what snowshoes are, I would suggest looking it up. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of snowshoes and I don’t even have any today. They are large, and are webbed, like a tennis racket. Kind of look like an over sized tennis racket actually. There are, however, different kinds of snowshoes as well.
Anyway, let’s get on with our adventure…
I don’t want you to think that all my snowshoeing ended in some kind of mishap. Not at all. Anyway, it started off quite normal. It was cloudy. The odd snowflake floating down to the trillions already on the ground. Not too cold either, which was nice. And this time I was smart. I left a note detailing where I was going. Forgot to mention how long I would be gone. Oh well. Off I went. Walking at first. I was planning to lengthen this trail and turn it into a loop type trail. However, after walking for a distance on the old trail I spotted a pileated woodpecker and stopped to watch. They are such a beautiful bird. It wasn’t long and off he went.
Hmm. And off I went. I came to the part of the trail where it split in two directions. I was supposed to go right. However, the pileated woodpecker went left. So I did too. It was snowing more heavily now. After about half an hour I came to a spot where I decided to make a new trail. I looked back. There was about 2 inches of new snow on the trail. Hmm, should I, or should I not? Sure, why not. No one would ever know which way I went now. Oh well. Off I went anyway. The snow was soft and deep in this area. It was not exactly easy going even with snowshoes. But it was so beautiful. And quiet.
After about 20 minutes I heard some familiar little chirps and looked up into the pines. Sure enough, there was a small flock of black-capped chickadees overhead. When moving about like that they often just give a light chirp, constantly keeping in touch with each other. They kept moving a certain direction, so I followed them for a bit. I wasn’t really watching where I was going. I was watching the chickadees. Besides, nothing here but snow and some trees. But then I started to get that “feeling” that happens every now and then. You know, like I was being watched, that kind of feeling. I looked around. Nothing.
Then I spotted some movement in among the trees. I couldn’t believe it. There it was. A huge wolf! Standing. Staring right at me. Animals are generally scared of people. Not necessarily so with wolves. I decided it might be a good idea to change direction. I was getting kind of tired about now anyway. So it’s a good time to head back. I looked behind me. That big fella is following me. Hmm. I kept looking back as I walked. It was snowing very heavily now. Suddenly…
To be continued.
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.
Nature’s Art #12.
Hi everyone and welcome back to our fun art in nature series! I hope your day is going well so far. It is cloudy and -10C or -14F this morning, and there doesn’t appear to be any wind outside which is nice. So really, it’s a nice winter morning for us. And winter is fast disappearing now that January is basically over, just one more day to go. That means only another 2 months of winter left, hopefully, though it could be another 3 months if it’s like the last 4 winters. But I’m hoping it will be 2 months, which will make this a short winter of only 5 months. Last year it was 7 months of winter, and very cold. But that’s the way it usually works for us. We get 2 or 3 bad winters, then a nice winter. We actually had 4 bad winters in a row, so we’re a bit overdo for a nice short winter.
Now let’s forget the winter and enjoy more of nature’s art with…
And we will start with this white coral fungus and although it’s considered edible, some people have a very bad reaction to these so it might be best to leave it alone.
Here we have the “lobster mushroom”. It’s a weird type of fungus that actually attacks other mushrooms and then takes over, turning them into lobster mushrooms. They are edible, somewhat crunchy and do have a real fishy or shellfish odor and flavor. Some people can have gastric problems with these however, so it might be best to try just a small amount at first.
There is our art in nature for today, I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 