A Walk in Winter

Snow shoeing with a dog on a leash...more perilous than dog-sledding to the south pole.

Your intrepid explorer dressed in his Winter finest.

Taking a walk on a cold Winter's day with 30 inches of snow on the ground isn't as easy as taking a stroll around the block in the middle of the Summer. The big difference is the amount of gear you have to wear up here in the northland in the middle of the Winter. There's the "normal" cold weather gear of course. Everyone knows you need a hat, coat and gloves. But frequently it's cold enough here that you need to wear the infamous "layers" of cold weather clothing. This usually includes a long-sleeve t-shirt, long-johns, sock liners, glove liners and a heavy fleece. If the wind is blowing, make sure you take a good scarf. Once you're bundled up for the cold, you're ready to get ready for snow shoeing. Put on your special boots (the ones with the heel ridge that catches the snowshoe bindings), gaiters (from the French guetres) to shed snow that is thrown up on your pants, sunglasses to ward off snow blindness and then grab your ski poles. Before setting off you'll have to lash on those snow shoes, usually only a 5 or 10 minute ordeal depending on how complicated the bindings are. And you're off to enjoy Mother Nature! Of course if you have dogs with you, you'll need to bring their treats and leashes. And you're off to enjoy Mother Nature! Oh, don't forget to get the camera in case there's something interesting up in the woods. And you're off to enjoy Mother Nature! After about 200 yards of slogging through deep snow or going uphill, you'll have to pause and start stripping those layers. Hopefully you have enough pockets to hold your glove shells and hat in addition to the dog treats, leashes and that indispensable handkerchief. For a special challenge go out with a dog on a leash as my daughter is doing in the picture above. And people wonder why we can't wait for Spring.

P.S. Well after dark tonight, Catherine spotted a flying squirrel on the bird feeder we have hanging in one of our living room windows. Flying squirrels are nocturnal animals, so it's rare to see one. Now you'd think that up here in Vermont all the flying squirrels would be "northern flying squirrels". We do have those, but the "southern flying squirrel's" range goes up to the the Canadian border. So, as incongruous as it may seem, the flying squirrel we saw tonight was a "southern flying squirrel". Betcha they can't wait for Spring to get here either.