Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Snowshoeing Fun Continues!
Greetings on this very cold Friday! It is cold. Very cold. It started on Wednesday and it’s going to stick around for a while, with a brief, minor break for a couple days, then back to frigid. This is good weather to stay home, inside, with a fire crackling in the fireplace (or wood stove), and enjoying a nice cup of hot COFFEE! Sigh. Well, I can do that, minus the crackling fire. Not quite the same though. This kind of weather really brings on that terrible Cabin Fever! Unfortunately once hit with that it becomes hard to do things. Energy is gone. Motivation is gone. But, fortunately there is still lots of COFFEE! Sigh.
Poor Birds
Those little birds, outside in that cold, flying back and forth from shrub to feeder, all day long. They never quit. Never give up. Never stop. Except periodically to find a snow free spot to sit right down on their feet to warm them a bit. Especially the little nuthatches and pine siskins. The chickadees don’t seem to mind as much.
Of course, their little feet are covered when they peck open and eat their sunflower seeds. It’s quite amazing to watch. How do they keep their feet covered, hold that sunflower seed with those covered feet, and still peck it open? Occasionally they drop the seed and swoop down, grabbing it in mid air, then back up to their spot on a branch. They all have their own favorite spot to use all day.
Snowshoeing again
I looked down that hill, having decided to try skiing down on my snowshoes, and off I went. Not bad, I thought. It was going good, until…it happened. Naturally. My one snowshoe hit an old tree stump that was covered with snow. I went flying. Literally. Right off the ground, or snow really. I landed face down and slid for quite a distance, plowing through that deep snow. I finally came to a stop, completely covered under that snow. It was a little difficult getting myself out of there since the snow all around was so soft and deep.
Breathing again
First I cleared the snow from around my face so I could breathe. Then, with some twisting and digging, I managed to get myself up on my hands and knees. I had my snowshoes strapped on tight, but one still came off anyway, not sure how that happened as the strap didn’t break. That snowshoe was still up the hill where it hit that tree stump. The boot which was on that foot was also gone…under the snow somewhere. My foot was getting cold. And wet. I took off the other snowshoe and tried standing up. Twisted that same ankle as last time. Sigh. Also hurt my shoulder and neck. But I had to find that boot. I struggled back up the hill to my snowshoe, the strap was still done up nice and tight. Amazing. Couldn’t see my boot anywhere. Obviously buried in the snow somewhere. I made my way back down, very slowly, digging through the snow. Aha, found it!
Barefoot Steve
By this time my sock was quite wet and my foot was very cold. I shook the snow out of my boot, then took my sock off and put my foot back in the boot quickly. My foot would stay warmer without the wet sock. The point where I stopped sliding was nearly at the bottom of the hill so decided it would be easier to go down. Which I did. From there I could see that by heading north I would come to a place where the hill was not so steep. Easier to get back up and back to my old trail. With my ankle so sore I could not use the snowshoes so off I went walking through the snow. It wasn’t so bad…at first. Then the snow got very deep. Waist deep. But it was really the only way to go. It took a long time just to get past that area and into some nice spruce trees. The snow was not so deep there so walking was much easier. Good thing. My ankle was in bad shape already. And my neck seemed to be getting worse too. Finally it was not even possible to turn my head. Sigh. By the time I reached the easier slope to the hill it was starting to get late. When I finally got to the top I could see my old trail off in the distance through a nice area of pine trees. No undergrowth here but it was still hard walking through the snow.
Almost home
It was starting to get dark when I arrived at my trail, but at least it was nice easy walking from that point on. It was completely dark by the time I made it back, quite exhausted, and very sore. But no broken bones, which was good. And it was a beautiful walk. At least at the start! But little mishaps like these didn’t stop me from going out again and again.
It was nice to be back home, drinking some hot chocolate, and listening to the crackling fire, which I could do at that time. Now I just dream about it. Sigh.
Muffin
Before I forget and say good bye, Muffin has written a new post, so please feel free to check it out. There is a change to the name of her page as well,
she didn’t like the COFFEE idea, since she doesn’t like COFFEE. Sigh. Our ‘about us’ and ‘contact’ pages have also been updated, after all it’s a new year and that means new changes. And more coming. I hope your weekend is warmer than mine, enjoy and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2019 Steve McLeod
Long January Days, And Snowshoes.
Greetings everyone as the light fades in the western sky. The bare branches of the black ash trees next door look fabulous against the darkening sky. The days are definitely getting longer now. Not by much, but it is noticeable at least. But this is when the cold comes. And it’s coming this week. Sigh. I just don’t do well in cold weather anymore. Warm days in the tropics. That’s what I like to think about. Ahh, to be alone on a nice little tropical isle. Muffin would like that too I’m sure. But here I sit, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and trying to stay warm.
Birds and feeders
I bought a new suet feeder since there are so many birds that like suet and there is always a line-up at the 2 I had. Today I put it up. When I went to the window to check if the birds were going to use the new feeder sure enough, a nuthatch was on it already. But something was wrong. He was fluttering around like he was trapped. Out I went again. Yep, his little foot had slipped between two of the wires in a corner that were just apart enough for his foot but once through and he turned his foot he was unable to pull it out again. Poor little critter. So I calmed him down and slipped his foot back out and he flew to the apple tree. And I fixed the feeder so it can’t happen again. Bad design. 
Sigh. But he was back later, no harm done.
Pine Siskins
There was a lot of those pine siskins around today, I figured around 80 of them. So I decided to try getting them to come onto my hand. Took less than a minute for the first one to land. Then another. And several more. Had 4 at a time on my hand. There was 10 at one time on me, on my arms, my shoulders, my head. Didn’t think it would be quite that easy. And no camera. But as usual with these little birds, they flew up into the trees suddenly. Good. I went inside and got my camera and back out with more sunflower seeds on my hand, which was already cold from the first time. The siskins came back right away and I was clicking as fast as I could. They didn’t mind at all.
Once again I was covered with siskins, I think about 15 this time, it was a little hard to tell. But only one at a time on my hand. Sigh. One little bird sat on my camera looking at the screen, probably trying to figure out what was going on. But I got some nice pics anyway. And my hand nearly froze. Couldn’t feel a thing. Until my hand started to warm up. That pain was bad. And it lasted quite a while. My hands haven’t been that cold in a long time. Sigh. But I did have fun. The fingers on my hand are still a bit sore.
More Snowshoeing
It was another January day, the temp was -5F, so not so bad, and it was cloudy. A good day for snowshoeing, I thought. This time I was smart and let someone know where I was going and about how long I would be gone. I had a lot of snowshoe trails by that time and they were nice and hard, like walking on a sidewalk. But I wanted to extend one of the trails so off I went carrying my snowshoes for the first part. I came to where the trail split, one heading south, one north. I was supposed to be going south. But instead I decided to head north. Why? There was some wolf tracks along that trail that looked quite fresh. That naturally caught my interest. So much for letting someone know where I was going. Sigh. I continued along that trail for some time. The wolf tracks kept going. But I stopped at one spot and decided it would be nice to make a new trail heading east.
So I strapped on my snowshoes. About then a couple of gray jays showed up looking for some food. This time I had brought some food just in case. Not for me, for any critters I might see along the way. I put some pieces of bread on my hand and they came down right away and helped themselves. Then off they flew, chirping their thanks. Gray jays always do that when they get some food.
The snow was deep again this year. Even with snowshoes a person still sinks a bit. I came to a nice grove of spruce and balsam. I stopped and listened. Sure enough, there was some boreal chickadees among those trees. That’s exactly where they will be found. They are always such a treat to see. I counted 8, plus a nuthatch. I watched for a bit then continued my walk. If I had been smart I would have turned back at that point. But I decided to continue a bit further. I soon came to a spot at the top of a hill. It was a rather steep sloping hill going down about 100 feet. Too steep to walk down. Hmm, I wonder if I could sort of ski down? Why not? So off I went. It was fun. Until….
Oops!
This has gotten longer than I planned. Will continue the story next time, you will definitely want to come back! Enjoy your week everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (The featured image at top is not mine, thanks Candace)
Steve`s Country 