tromping about

Lots of long walks in the woods these past few days. With all the freezing and thawing we've been having there is a crispy layer on top of the snow that makes snowshoeing delightful. We've been seeing parts of the property I'd never even known were there, and Ari loves being in the trees. Walking on top of the snow when it is so deep is rather surreal, landmarks like the fire pit and the raspberry canes seem outrageously far away, giving a sort of dreamlike sense of flying or hovering- if you ignore the heavy clomping of the snowshoes.

It has always seemed to me that winter is hiding something, covering up what is really there, and it seems especially true when there is so much snow. Even though winter is the longest season by far here, it still seems like summer and the snow-free, green ground is the real state of things. Winter just throws a blanket over everything, smoothing out the bumps and valleys, covering what is ugly and what is beautiful, making the tidy ordered spots indistinguishable from the messes. We just have to wait for spring to whisk away the covers and show the truth of it all.

These photos are from the archives. Perry has made off with the camera again, he's busy snapping pictures of art with two shows opening this week. I guess this is a good excuse for stealing the camera, but I was in a photo taking sort of mood today. Humph. We can pretend that these are pictures of our latest adventures and just imagine the family of grouse we saw in the woods today, and the lovely little bare spot we stopped at under a spruce tree, and Ari all rosy cheeked (and runny nosed unfortunately, we will be glad not to have a picture of this- there's been a nasty cold going around here,) and I will take a round of pictures of some of the projects I've been puttering on (a new bag for me! This is the first thing I've made for myself and it feels like Christmas!) as soon as I can filch the camera back. The sun has been shining and the days have been beautiful, so it is not much of a stretch to imagine these pictures were taken today, though we've been avoiding the road now that the back woods are tromp-able. But the mountains looked just this lovely today. Only they are in their true state when covered up in snow.