Surprises!

 After days of brutal cold, the temperature on Sunday was up to -4 when I got the itch to take a walk after chores.

The wind was from the NW, so I thought I'd put on the snowshoes and head along the tree line through the summer meadow and walk down the ridge trail and retrieve one of the trail cams so I could see if it still had any battery power after The Big Chill.

The wind chill was still pretty cold so I put on my balaclava mask and some clip on sunglasses to protect my eyes from the bright snow. I took only my little pocket camera which I could keep inside my breast pocket so it wouldn't freeze.

Once I got down into the forest, I got rather warm. The green jacket I am wearing is awesome. If I was going for a long snowshoe trek, I'd have to wear lighter clothing under the coat to keep from sweating.

These are my old Cabela's Snowshoes. I purchased these ...gosh...maybe 20 years ago? I've replaced the back straps but these snowshoes just keep on giving even with all the abuse I give them.

I've walked over rocks and jumped creeks with these. I've used them to brush bust through the woods and climb over logs. It is pretty fun considering a person has to approach each obstacle a bit differently than if wearing boots only.

These are my tracks along with deer and other creatures looking back towards the summer pasture.

Mother Nature's fierce winds create amazing sculptures. She makes the most interesting patterns in the snow.

Snow that looks like a sand dune! It was surprisingly hard packed and not soft at all.

Then there were leaves scattered across an area where no oaks were. I imagine the powerful winds blew leaves to all sorts of places.

I just liked the leaf and shadow against the all white.

I didn't spend too long out in the meadow, the light breeze was a bit cold. 

Towards evening I got a text from Olive. Would we like a home made pizza? She would be down to deliver it after the Packers game.

Gosh, who would refuse something like that? 

She was supposed to make pizzas for her family get together but all of them ended up sick. So she and her little boy came down for a little visit with us and dropped off a freshly made pizza.

Aiden entertained Rich by admiring his Lego Tractor and his red truck which they both played with for a little bit.

Funny how such a kind act can make a whole day bright.

Her visit was short, but so well loved. I walked most of the way back up the road with her and we made a date to snowshoe together on Tuesday.

Wednesday I have a 'date' with the little girl who gave me the little bell attached to yarn when she was 9 years old. She is now 18 and set up a time we could go hiking at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve together. She is now a part time reporter for a local paper and I've given her my old Nikon to use. We'll do some easy photography lessons tomorrow.

I'll meet her at her mom's place and she will do the driving. MY goodness, how time flies!

I won't drive with other passengers in the car at this time. I feel I can get around okay, however with distance being fuzzy, if I can get a young sharp eyed person to do the driving why not?

I'm have a fulfilling week scheduled. 

What wonderful surprises I have. 

[By the way...Hubby is busy working on his latest Lego puzzle and is doing all the work except the stickers on his own!]