Winter Walk

I must apologize for the lack of posts recently.  It certainly isn’t due to lack of inspiration — I have definately had things I wanted to write about.  Over the holidays I’ve even had a bit more ‘down time’ than usual so I have also had time to write.  The problem, I think, has been getting the ‘time’ to coincide with the ‘inspiration’.

Today I vowed to post something and given how long it has taken me to get to this point I think a ‘mostly photos’ post is a more realistic goal.  So, here’s a picture story of our winter day at Fort Whyte Alive;

The -2 C temperature would normally be considered very nice but we’ve been spoiled by record breaking warm temperatures lately.  We started out along the trail;

We stopped to play in this fort constructed from hay bales (not enough snow on the ground to build any snow structures);

There was a blurr that we were sure was a rabbit — it is hiding in here somewhere but we couldn’t find it;

So, we spent some time drawing pictures in the snow;

We stopped at the bird feeding station;

and watched this little guy as he waited for the squirrels to vacate the bird feeders;

We used the posted sign to identify our friend as a ‘Hairy Woodpecker’

We stopped here and stood really still and quiet to see if we could spot any other wildlife;

All we saw were other children playing in the bush — not exactly the wild life we were hoping for   We continued on our journey, thankful for the shelter provided by the trees;

In open areas the wind was unrelenting as it pelted us with icy snow.  We hurried to our lunchtime destination;

Inside there was shelter from the wind and snow;

We wished we could have started a fire. Hungry as we were we welcomed the sandwiches and veggies but warm food would have been even better.  Imagine what it would be like to live like this all the time…

We watched the bison getting covered by snow — they didn’t seem to mind;

We briefly played a game of tag and of course couldn’t resist a few runs up and down the hill;

A wonderful winter walk — the perfect end to a fun filled holiday break.  Some are looking forward to going back to school.  Others are not — maybe they would prefer a classroom in the woods.