Friday, January 16, 2009

Cold Weather, Skiing and Birthdays


It’s still cold here. Yesterday morning it was -16 degrees F; it was about half of that in town. Today, it was -11 F, but there was wind, making it bitterly cold. This evening, I’m enjoying listening to the crackling of a fire and glad I’m inside where it’s warm. The first photo is a trail that is often skiied and walked, that's just outside of town. This afternoon, I started out on this trail (later on the trail runs across a dam that I write about). The second photo shows the row of large maples, flanked on one side by a dirt road and on the other by a rusty and broken wire fence.

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I enjoy being outdoors when the sun is low and the shadows are long. Today, my birthday, I went out for a late afternoon cross-country ski. It was cold and windy, but felt down right balmy after our morning low of -11 and the good thing about skiing in the woods is that much of the wind is blocked. Hearing the wind overhead, where it swayed the tops of the trees, reminds me that I am in the elements and am not completely in control. I ski across the dam of a lake, long frozen. To the north, a creek appears at the base of the dam, a small trickle of water flows mostly under a sheet of ice. Crossing the dam, I head south and climb the hill and pass through a pine forest that is need of thinning. Bob planted these years ago; he’s no longer with us but his wife allows me to ski through their property. Coming around the lake, I take the old farm road that crawls up and down hills, along side of large maples and a broken down fence. Nobody has been back here since the last snow and I break trail, my skis sinking into the deep snow. It’s good that I’m wearing gaiters to keep the snow out of my boots as I plow through the powder and set the trail. I pause occasionally to take it all in. The giant limbs of the maples are blanketed with snow. The pasture to my east, where Bob kept horses and a generation earlier had cows is now slowly maturing into hardwoods, with trees eight and ten inches thick. I ski around one a maple that has fallen and blocks the road. It’s been decades if not a half-century or more since these trees have been tapped for their sweet nectar. I ski till the sun dropped behind the horizon and its rays are no longer striking the top of the trees, then I turn around and head back, making better time as I’m flowing my own broken trail. With the disappearance of the sun, the temperature drops and I’m glad to get back to my truck.


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I got a surprise delivery today, a new ski hat for my birthday (and I do believe it's Carolina blue!). If these photos look a little skewed, it’s because I held the camera myself and the lens was a little wide for such close-up photography. Also, Murf has honored me for my birthday, digging into her archives and coming up with some of her more creative inventions.

23 comments:

  1. I hope your birthday was all you could hope for, Sage. I like your new hat and I enjoyed that ski trek with you.


    My word verification is "juddi"...LOL

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  2. Sounds like you had a very enjoyable birthday :)

    Murf's fast becoming a new hero of mine. Just to let you know.

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  3. Brother...A tip of the hat to your birthday but not the blue one...not yesterday...It simply is not enough hat for that biting cold.

    I was out in it myself, not for any reason as grand as your but out none the less. One of us enjoyed it but it wasn't me.

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  4. Happy Belated Birthday!!

    Love those photos of you in the hats...and Murf's a genius. :)

    I can't imagine walking in -11 temps. I have a hard time being outside when it hits the 50s...but I wouldn't mind bundling up for a walk in the snow. Your pics are awesome!

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  5. You always look skewed so I didn't notice anything odd about the pictures. ;-) I do wonder, however, why no one had purchased a new hat for you to wear hiking in warmer weather. You still have that old stinky one. I think I should take up an online collection and get you one.

    TC: I should warn you, two other female Sage readers have thought the same and then they went insane shortly after. I don't really know what I did so maybe they were teetering on the edge to begin with. :-)

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  6. Kenju, it was nice and laid back... Jeddii sounds like something from Star Wars

    TC, you and Murf, that's dangerous!

    Walking Guy, at least it's not as cold today. The knit hat would be fine with bitter temperatures, especially if you're working hard.

    Scarlet, you've become soft living in S. FL. Also, Murf doesn't need to have her ego stroked! LOL

    Murf, thanks! My old hat is fine, I wish it every year, unless my last trip (like this year) involved lots of rain, then I just thank the Lord for doing my washing for me :)

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  7. ♫Happy Birthday to you!

    Happy Birthday to you!

    Happy Birthday to sage!

    Happy Birthday to yooouuuu!♫



    Love the blue ski cap!!

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  8. So is -32 half of -16, or would it be -8? I never was great with integers.

    Happy birthday, dam skiier.

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  9. Hippo birdie two ewes! Sorry, I missed your b-day. Please, forgive me. Ew, I have to get back to Murf's and take care of some business. ;D

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  10. Happy Belated Birthday, Sage. Thank you for taking me through the snowy trail.

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  11. Happy Birthday! Love the new hat!

    p.s. Go Steelers!

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  12. Happy belated Birthday! Oh I wish I'd come Friday! The hat is awesome, you look fantastic. Your photos are great too. I don't know how you guys stand such cold. I am guessing over time you changed from your NC DNA to a colder heartier form?

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  13. Your skiing trip sounded fun, especially skiing across the dam of a frozen lake. Oh I can imagine that.

    I looked at the two pictures many times. I quite like the one on the right.

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  14. Karen, thanks.

    Bone, when downhill skiing it's usually dam snowboarders (but I think it's referring to something else and spelled differently)

    Thanks Cyclops

    Diane, Yes, Go Steelers. You must have seen the light and sometime since last Sunday night have had something close to a religious conversion! ;)

    Deana, I don't know what happened, but I've always enjoyed winter--something my mother (who hated winter) instilled in me... I'll have to post about that sometime

    Mother Hen, it's just an earthen dam. The hat on the right is wonderful and a pleasant surprise.

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  15. Happy belated birthday Sage. Hope it was wonderful. The snow looks amazing
    Carolina blue? I should know :)
    Picking out my house colors tomorrow and my bedroom is going to be just a bit more icy than that

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  16. Ops, I was referring to the top two pictures actually (yeah the hat is ok but I didn't mean the bottom two pictures). The trees in the top right picture looked very steady and I like that. Composition is very good on that too. Anyway I was trying to figure out why there was this "mist" appearing in some spots. Then I quickly realized, ah it could probably be your breathing or the steam on the camera lens. It must be very cold and crisp when you stopped to take that two shots, yet you stopped and took them. That's passion for photography. Good for you.

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  17. Happy Birthday old man. May you have many more!

    One of these days I'm going to get up to your neck of the woods and drop by and see you at work, just to see if you can spot me in a crowd.

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  18. Pia, thanks & good luck with your colors.

    Mother Hen, I noticed those spots too--and it must be condensation. I didn't wipe the lens before shooting and it was very cold, the temperature was already dropping and it was right around 0 degrees F.

    Ed, if I see a tall guy walking around with a plastic pocket protector with pens and a mechanical pencil, I'll assume it's you.

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  19. I need a knit hat!! Care to join me in singing the Steelers Fight Song?

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  20. Happy Birthday, Sage!Wonder what the southern warm winter equivalent of cross country skiing is? It sounds like such fun!!

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  21. Happy Birthday Sage- what a wonderful, embracing, alive way to spend it!

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