Walking through woods on a snowy evening*

It snowed yesterday. Right at rush hour. Took me over an hour to go 3 miles, just because people were all traveling at the same time, all going quite slowly, and all had only a few routes available to cross 494. After I got to Highwood, past the backup, everything moved freely and I went to pick up Chinese and get gas. I did not appreciate the snow last night.

This morning, when I walked the dog, the sidewalks hadn't been plowed. And those by 86th were in snowplow wake, making it even harder to walk. It was really slogging progress, and we didn't go very far before I was entirely too tired to go any further. I did not appreciate the snow this morning.

When I got home, there was the faintest sign of the setting sun still on the horizon, which encouraged me to get out and walk Bravo again. The sidewalks in our neighborhood were all shoveled, but I decided not to go up to 86th again, in case the city hadn't gotten to those yet. So I walked down to the nearby woods. There hadn't been much traffic, but the snow really wasn't very deep. Aside from the snowplow mounds at the entrance and exit of the path (where my foot sank in and I got snow in my boots since they weren't hard yet), it really wasn't bad walking.

In the woods, it was quiet and beautiful. And with a nearly full moon and all that fresh white snow, it was plenty light enough to do without my flashlight. Bravo and I enjoyed the night (sights for me, smells for him). I finally appreciated the snowfall.

*with apologies to Robert Frost.