My friend's and neighbors often think I'm nuts. For various reasons, most of which are true and good reasons to think that of me. One of them though I don't think they think as crazy, they might even think it's an awesome idea, but none of them would venture out even for a few moments to try it. I'm talking about getting out in nature when it's nice and cold.
We have a few nice parks around us, some with lakes or streams and most have a pretty good population of deer and bird life that are worth seeing. Some places wouldn't meet up on some hikers lists of places worth going but when you've only got limited time and it's painfully close, you do with what you have.
Closest to me is Peace Valley Park. There is a nice sized lake, with several trails both around the lake and in the woods. I ventured to the Nature Center area of the lake today, it was surprisingly empty considering the overcast, snowy weather with the temps dropping and the wind increasing. I was one of three cars in the lot, just the way I like it. Once out of my 4Runner I heard my favorite sound of the wind whipping through the pines, it's a comforting whooshing sound that really relaxes me. I made me way towards a mud and snow covered trail, camera in hand, and off I went.
Alone in the woods, the only prints in the snow were from deer and rabbits. There were a few small birds around, I tried in vein to get a photo of them but due to the contrasting clouds none came out. But that's fine. The walk couldn't have been nicer. The trail soft and quiet. The sounds and smells of nature were out in force. I made it to the creek, which is significantly lower then I ever experience it because they drain the lake pretty low in the winter. It really allows many features that you'd normally never notice to pop right out of the remaining water.
The experience as a whole is so different, the silence, the wind, the cold cheeks, the soft footing... all things that you don't get in the summer and you certainly don't get by sitting on your sofa at home.
So the next time it's cold outside, get out some extra layers, head to a local park that you'd never go to in the winter and experience it for everything that it's not in the summer. You might very well be surprised to see what it's all about.
