Snow Wings

The weekend’s storm dumped a bit of snow on us, but the temperatures are beginning to warm up. The forecast for Thursday is for a high temperature of 45 degrees with a 40% chance of rain! We usually get a thaw in January–although not usually rain–but this year it’s a week or two early. I dislike a winter thaw because it melts the snow into puddles that refreeze overnight, making our driveway treacherous with ice. Yuck.

Today I walked down the driveway to get the mail. I don’t go every day. I get emails each morning from the Post Office informing me of what will be in that day’s mail. This saves me a trip to the mailbox if there is nothing important in the mailbox. I don’t mind the walk down the driveway when the weather is nice, but don’t always enjoy braving the cold if I don’t have to.

I didn’t take Hannah Joy with me today because I didn’t want to risk her yanking on the leash and making me fall. I’m careful in the winter because in 2018 I slipped on snow-covered ice when walking with Hannah and broke my wrist badly enough that I had to have surgery to put a plate in my wrist. It wasn’t Hannah’s fault, but I don’t want to risk a fall. Plus, Hannah doesn’t like the cold. In winter, she dashes outside, does her business, and dashes back inside.

There are several things I really like about winter. I like the stark beauty. I like that it’s quieter than in the summer because neighbors are either inside or in Florida. I like watching the wildlife in our yard. I actually like watching the wildlife in every season. I also like to observe animal tracks. I see tracks in warmer months in the mud after rain showers but in winter I see many more tracks in the snow. I can see lots of deer tracks crisscrossing through our yard and into the forest. Sometimes I see turkey tracks. Or little rodent tracks with a line where their tails have dragged. And every now and then, I see even more interesting tracks.

Today at the bottom of our driveway, I saw an area where the snow had been disturbed off to the side. I walked toward it to observe it more closely. As I suspected, there was the imprint of a large bird’s wings as it swooped down to snatch its lunch. It probably was a rabbit since there are a lot of them in that area. It’s always very interesting to see this scenario in the snow, although it’s too bad for the prey. I took a photo of the scuffle. You can see it at the top of this post.