I got a few minutes to write outdoors before the rain started. I took a long loop hike and found coyote, squirrel, mouse and bird tracks in slushy snow.
From my notes:
I’m at the lake where I typically sit in the summer. It’s foggy, overcast, and not quite as warm as yesterday. I’ve had the sensation of traveling in a cloud since I started this hike.
Today feels a lot more like March 25 than December 25. The edges of winter - puddles form on the icy lake surface. A breeze stirs dried grasses and a mist settles in all around me, softening the edges of the pine trees across the lake. The ridge that rises up behind those trees creates a shadowy form in early afternoon.
Crows, chickadees, titmouse and nuthatches call and I remember the tail end of a story about a family that made a Christmas feast of popcorn, cranberries and sunflower seeds for the woodland animals. I never did find out the title of that story, but I continue to look for it.
The submerged log is barely visible in the milky ice. A sharp pit pat, pit pit pat - raindrops land on the ice and it’s time for me to finish my hike.