walking in the snow

Today Skippy and I walked our 2 mile route around the big pond (Fresh Pond in Cambridge). Thankfully the path was plowed nicely. It had 4 ft edges and 3 ft of soft snow beyond. Skippy tried to explore off path, but sunk in to his belly. So we stuck to the path. Lots of people and dogs were walking this route too. Skippy met lots of his buddies on this first bright sunny day after the "blizzard of 2013".

The sledding hill at the east side of the Pond was crowded with sledders. Its a perfect sledding slope. Skippy kept loosing track of me as we walked through the crowd milling at the top of the hill, waiting to make another run to break the track speed or distance record (or wipe out midway down the hill). Eventually he would find me as I use hand signals (like frantically waving my arms) to communicate with Skip. Skippy chased 5 or 6 sledders down the hill. His favorite thing to do. Fortunately all seemed OK with a big black dog running after them and barking wildly. Tiny kids sometimes get upset. Skippy had fun, the kids had fun. Me too.

I looked for wildlife that had come out after the storm. At home, the squirrels and sparrows came out about midday. By the pond, I saw a sleeping screech owl, probably hungry and looking forward to nightfall so he could hunt. Also lots of fluffy robins (sitting in trees), and chickadees singing their spring song, "dee de, dee de". I think this song has something to do with Valentines Day coming soon.

Well, quite a storm, and a beautiful day after! A good time to relax and enjoy a cozy fire (and martini).