WINTER WALKS

Snow has been keeping us busy--plowing, shoveling and sanding slippery spots.  It's been fun so far, and K-Lee is now an accomplished "co-pilot" in my (not-road-worthy) plow truck.  It's time to replace the truck this year, but not the copilot.  I plow the yard, then pick up pieces that fell off the truck and toss them in the back.  It's down to one or two brakes that function, a heater fan that only works on full blast, and tires that need to be inflated for each storm.  The little Toyota is old, tired, and pretty much "spent", but the little four cylinder engine pushes snow like nobody's business. To K-Lee, it's a wonderful truck.  She rides in the passenger's seat and when I come to a snow banking, she leans her head and shoulders into me and braces herself.  Nice!

Sometimes it's too cold to go play

It's been a cold winter this year.  When it's warm enough, K-Lee and I have been taking walks--snowshoes for me--into the woods. Both of us need the exercise!  The quiet of the snow-filled woods and the sound of our breathing seemed to connote a primal nature to our excursion.  The silence is only amplified as it contrasts the beating of my heart.

Deer sign --or  raisins?

We discovered sign and  tracks that reminded me that there are many things alive--even during the depths of winter.  Deer tracks, coyote tracks, tweety-bird tracks...the list could go on.

"deer food" (apples) soon to drop

Each day was a day of discovery, but nothing made me feel more optimistic than the ruffed grouse tracks that we found. They clearly showed where the bird sauntered through the pole-size saplings.  My mind did a "fast forward" to next fall, bird hunting, being in my camp and visiting my friends in their very respectable  "grouse camps". 

Snowshoe hare track

Dreams are a big part of hunting and fishing.  If it weren't so, new equipment and fancy gear would never be sold.  But you and I both know that it is so!  Therefore, from one dreamer to perhaps another, remember that anytime you're out with your dog, life is good.  It's another piece of "the dream" fulfilled.

Whose "grouse camp" is this?