It seems that someone or something likes to take a shortcut, even in winter. Perhaps I should say especially in winter with the temperatures into the minus double digits. Mature trees took a beating in the latest ice storm just before Christmas, and many of them have lost large branches. Clean-up is still going on and most residents are back in power as of the 25th.

A shortcut across our yard, corner to corner. But wait, the tracks are not human ones, but those of a small animal.

[Click on picture to see both sets of tracks]

Here, it’s as if two small animals met and one was directing. “I’ll go this way across, and you go along the building.” Who are they? Where are they headed? Are they playing a game or do the tracks just happen to join up here?

We’ve experienced a good amount of snow this year, beginning in November and although it has melted some, we seemed to get more. If the snow on the picnic table is any indication, you can see that we’ve had a fair amount already.

Our neighbour’s snow on his roof almost seems to drift over onto his evergreens.The trees have lost their coat of ice after the storm during a short melting period, however, soon we were back to windchills of -20s and more. A fellow editor from Winnipeg reported -45 there. Brrr!

I’m grateful to have a home in which to stay warm and dry. We are cautioned to dress for the weather with appropriate coats, hats, tuques (Canadian for knitted hats), scarves and mittens. Dressing in layers is also a good thing.

Keep warm and dress for the weather!

photography © C.R. Wilker