I glanced at the clock, it said 5:30 am. The darkness of my room let me know it was cold outside, making the bed feel warm and inviting. The sun would be rising in an hour. I had plenty of time to dress and drive out to County Road 15 in search of a morning sunrise. I pulled the covers up, snuggled under the comforter and closed my eyes.


I finally ventured out around 8:30 and made my way to the Environmental Learning Center. When I parked the car the temperature on the car dashboard said 5 degrees. With backpack on and camera around my neck I headed for the footbridge to cross the river and onto the 2.5 mile trail. Every once in a while the sun would peek through the patches of light clouds causing sparkles on the snow. Quiet. Nature was all I could hear except for the sound of my boots as I walked on the fresh snow. A small flock of Canada Geese called out as they flew overheard. I heard the hawk call, letting me know I had come too close and then watched him fly off to the south. Not a breathe of wind. Most of the tracks on the trail were from others who had ventured out yesterday then covered up with the snowfall from last night. I found fresh tracks from the deer, the rabbits, a fox and I think a raccoon. I had the place to myself. When I got back to the car, the dashboard said it had warmed up to 10 degrees. My toes and fingers were cold. A hot latte sounded pretty good on such a frigid morning. Hope everyone stays warm today. I plan on it.