I’ve skied around this neighborhood just about every day since December. Yeah! It was a dandy winter for the backyard.
A month ago the snow started fading and we had a few freeze/thaw cycles to bring on the delight of the annual spring crust skiing with warmth, sunny days and blue skies. I got a nice tan, even.
Then the snow nearly disappeared. Except in the shade. But where there were trees there was enough shade. I kept skiing an area golf course. It was freaky. I used no-wax skis and would just walk across the plush grass in my skis (without using poles) from patch to patch of nice crusty snow, then I’d ski. I had a few quarter-mile loops stashed here and there without more than 100 yards of grass-walking, but the grass was so green and the sun so warm. It was very nice skiing, really. And the grass-walking was a delight, too. Such pretty green!
How many skiers like walking on grass? Hey, a little bit on the last day of spring skiing is just fine by me.
A couple days ago I went to the woods for one last hurrah, just to see if there was any more snow and sure enough, there was.
I just love that last snow. It keeps cooling the air over the ground, and cleaning it, too—it smells moist and rain-fresh. People who don’t go out in snow (away from cars) don’t realize how much snow cleans the air.
So, some shady swamps still had snowy ice covering them. My skis kept me from breaking thru to water. But at one place in a low-spot there was a sparkly creek flowing thru fresh mud, with skunk cabbage and jack-in-the-pulpits popping up already. It was such a nice day. Earth smells good.
I really enjoyed the hiking between the snowy spots.
