Winter wonders

Fox tracks left by the critter cruising through our backyard.

I was enjoying a final few minutes in bed this morning. All warm. All quiet. All by myself.

Then, The Weed stuck his head in the room and said, ‘A fox just cruised through the backyard.’

Damn it!

I was up and tip-toeing through the yard in my PJs, cursing the 12-degree weather.

Sure enough. There are fox tracks in the snow, about 5 feet from the couch in our living room.

‘Wow,’ I thought to myself. ‘A really, real fox. Who needs a decoy coyote now?’

Although I’m bummed, I missed seeing the red fox with a black tail, as I made The Weed painstaking describe to me, it’s still pretty cool to know he/she is out there.

More tracks ... Pretty in fluffy snow.

Winter has always been difficult for me.

I grew up waking before sunrise to do chores, breaking off layers of ice on water troughs; mucking out frozen horse stalls; and, slipping-sliding across sheets of ice to return stranded ponies to the warmth of the barn.

If I could surround myself with sandy beaches, palm trees, and sunsets over the water, I would make that happen for all of my days.

That said, this winter has been really rewarding.

Sure, it’s been cold. Sure, there’s been a decent amount of heavy, wet snow to shovel.

However, there have been bright spots.

The owls calling to each other at dusk.

The ravens gathering on the banks of the pond, pulling up fish lost to the freeze.

The squirrels, Nibbles and T-Bone, sprinting by my office with food and nest materials. I kid you not, Nibbles bounded by yesterday carrying a twig almost twice his size. He looked like a Labrador retriever making a break for it.

I guess if I have to be cold and stuck inside, I’m thankful for this year’s Winter wonders.

T-Bone up and at it early this morning. The contrails in the background are a happy coincidence.