Monday

I played in the snow much of the weekend. Saturday, I went cross country skiing in deep new snow on a friend's land here in Hartford. The ski was crystalline blue in the bright sunshine. But you'll see that in the pictures I took. I hope you enjoy them. I had to break trail (bush wacking) which was a vigorous workout. I went through the woods and along a frozen creek that I could hear gurgling under the ice. It felt wonderful being in the woods and I lost track of time. I was low and in order to get back on the old log road, I needed to get up higher. That required herringboning and diagonally stepping up the steep side hill. Then as I returned along the high ridge, I found two huge trees across my path and needed to go lower. I started down, tripped and fell. If you have ever fallen in deep snow then you know it is kinda like falling in pudding. I couldn't get my feet back under me and I couldn't reach my bindings to remove my skiis. I kept slidiing down the hill filling the back of my jacket and gloves with snow. Did I mention the temp was pegged at 18 degrees? I struggled and floundered about like a fish out of water. Finally I poked my pole into my binding and released the skiis. As I stepped up, my feet sank into almost hip deep snow. The challenge was to get the skiis back on. There was no way I was going to walk back in that deep snow. Then there was the final climb up to reach the meadow before skiing down to the road and my car. I managed to fall a couple of times on the way up the hill. Sweat was rolling down my back and my hair was soaked with it. Waves of nausea swept over me and I thought, "Don't tell me I may have to call Pete again". Pete rescued me 2 summers ago when I had heat stroke out on my bike. This time he would have to come on snowshoes and bring a sled. I chuckled to myself, felt better and moved on. Home to a hot bath and a large cuppa cocoa. Lesson learned: I am not who I was 22 yrs. ago. I knew that but like so many other things, I forgot.

Now on Sunday, Pete and I snow shoed up a mountain in West Fort Ann where he goes deer hunting in the fall. Am I crazy? Probably. We went for about 2 hours. Actually, I felt less sore after using those muscles again than I did before the trip. It was beautiful up there. We saw lots of deer tracks. All the critters in the woods are very hungry now. They are eating bark, burrdocks and weed seeds. I hope our snows leave soon but not too fast or we will float away.

Today I went to sub at a special education class in primary school. The same school I went to last Thursday but a different class. The weather was cloudy today but the temp went up to 40 degrees. We lost a bit of our snow. Up here we call it settling. I finally tried out the YMCA but only for an hour since Bash was waiting for me at home. I did sneak in a sauna and a steam bath though for these achy muscles.

That is the end of my escapades for now but I want to share my pictures.