OWL-DRAGON

Snow Run

First snow has fallen. Not much. (It came Wednesday during rush hour causing huge delays.) The first big storm is scheduled for tomorrow. But for today there is a nice thin layer of white in woods. As I took to the trail it was 15F with a wind chill of -1. I felt comfortable in my layers and found the going easier then I expected.

On some of the trails I was the first human but tracks of others were common. Some entered and crossed or followed only a short distance. But some went straight ahead for some distance. Rabbit and deer tracks are fairly easy to pick out but others I’m not so sure of – some are probably predators mostly likely foxes. On one stretch there were myriad tiny tracks bunched closed together near the center of the track as if a tribe of creatures had gone on a pilgrimage for they all seem to go in one direction with no return trip. The only animals I saw today were deer. They seemed strangely bold, allowing me to get quite close and stopping to watch my progress before disappearing into the distance. Perhaps hooded and mittened, bent forward to be sure of my footing I don’t look quite human and they are puzzling out what this intruder could be. The woods themselves are all winter beauty, dark trees against white – everything at once soften yet clarified. I made a great loop around until finally entering the return leg where I followed my own tracks back out into the world.