A Sunday Walk

When is the last time you had a day that was so wonderful you wanted to bottle it up so you could relive it again? Sunday was one of those days. Not that the weather choose to cooperate as it was supposed to be up to 19 C or 66 F.... that didn't happen. It ended up being warm enough to go for a walk but certainly not anywhere near what the weatherman said. Am I complaining? No way! I think I am still in shock over the warm weather we have been having.

As it happened Mountain Man was anxious to get out to the woods and do some exploring for antler sheds so when he asked if I wanted to go along you can just imagine how fast I jumped at the chance to get out and do something. The sky was overcast and threatening rain but that wasn't going to stop me, nor was the fact that our quad has decided it doesn't want to run. We have 160 acres which can take a long time to walk so we knew we were only going to be able to see a portion of it. Especially when you are looking over every inch of ground.

Just being outside and enjoying the weather was so wonderful! We heard and saw so many geese passing overhead there was no way we could count them, so we didn't even try. Besides! We were looking at the ground for sheds. Did we find any? Nope. I suppose that would have topped off the day quite nicely but we didn't really need it. There is just something that happens to me when I am out in the woods. I'm not sure I can explain it really. It is kind of like I feel completely at home. Content in a way I can't be any place else.

Even though we didn't find any sheds we did find a lot of "leavings". It seemed every few feet we were passing moose droppings. Wow! They really did spent a lot of time in these woods!

No sheds to be found, however, about 1/2 an hour into the walk we came into a clearing and there was a mom and yearling moose playing peekaboo with us through the trees. No time to take a picture and the trees were in the way but it was nice to see them still hanging around. I sure hope we didn't scare them off too much!

The spring melt is in full force and even though the snow is a bit deep in shady places I could help but be astonished at how fast it was melting. The spring run off as begun! This picture is actually of a lovely little "stream" that is bubbling quite earnestly.

One of the biggest surprises to me was the signs of life which I didn't expect until next month. Look at that! A wild strawberry plant is already sprouting leaves! It almost seems surreal to see this in mid March. 

Even though we only saw a cow and yearling moose the signs that the boys had been here as well were everywhere. This tree is very tall. In fact the rubs I've pictured here were well out of my reach at about 8 or 9 feet high. The velvet on their antlers must have been getting itchy so they were scrapping it off.

Then came the biggest surprise off all. Pussy willows! Although most of the willows have not started to produce them yet I was surprised as the amount that had. It is way to early! I was so tempted to cut a bunch and bring them home with me but decided against it. I know we will be getting some cold weather some time and these might not make it but I'm sure going to give them the chance. 

Even the clover is starting to grow!

How long until our local ducks and geese will be back on the pond? None have arrived yet but look at that water melt! How much has changed in just two days! Remember my picture from Friday? Look at it now!

All in all we were out walking for quite a few hours. I could have stayed all day just enjoying the signs of spring, but alas, duty calls and chores must be done. Sigh.... While we didn't find any sheds we did see some wildlife. Besides the two moose we also saw a huge grey owl, who refused to allow me to take a picture of him as he was flying through the trees, as well as three prairie chickens. Spring is such a wonderful time to be out since there are no mosquitoes yet, no ticks to worry about and signs of life everywhere. It won't be too much longer before those pesky critters make it almost impossible to enjoy the walk we did today. Which only reinforces my thinking that we need to take each lovely day at a time and not forget to get out and enjoy nature when we can.