Educating Risa

Today was a gorgeous day here, with warm temps (8C / 41F—which is warm for Calgary in January!) and clear sunny skies. I wanted to get us all out for some fresh air and sunshine, so I suggested to the boys that we go for a nature walk around the neighbourhood and look for tracks in the snow. Here’s some of what we found:

Under our bird feeder. I’m hoping these are bird tracks, not mice tracks.

These tracks belong to the many snowshoe hares that roam the neighbourhood. These criss-crossing paths go from our back lane to a large church parking lot. Both areas see cars infrequently, and are a favourite hangout for the rabbits. (I’ve learned to pull into and out of our garage quite slowly, as at certain times of the year you see several young hares bounding about). We found another set of rabbit tracks leading to a sheltered spot under the large spruce tree in our front yard.

These were the most common tracks we found, running alongside people tracks: they’re dog tracks. Our neighbourhood is close to an off-leash park and hence popular with dog-walkers.

We also made some tracks of our own:

Gareth, Daegan and Risa tracks. And while we saw several car and truck tracks in the street, we came across 3 odd long, thin tracks on the sidewalk:

I asked the boys what they thought the skinny line tracks were, and suggested, “Maybe a snake?” At first they agreed it was possible, but Daegan quickly changed his mind: “No. It’s too cold for snakes.” We eventually figured out the three lines (the hard-to-see one is very close to the snowbank on the right) came from the adult tricycle our flyer delivery guy drives. We saw him one block over.

Another highlight of the walk was at this one house with candy cane lights, and a gnome. The boys laughed at the light-hearted nature of both, and insisted on pictures. I must admit even I find the garden gnome buried to his neck in snow rather amusing.

   

Hope you’ve been able to get out for a nature walk—even if its just around the block—wherever you live.

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” –Henry David Thoreau