Thankful to have spent time with our family earlier this month in Thanksgiving. As we are so far from everyone right now, the time spent together is that much more precious.

Thankful that we are one step closer to making this a permanent move. (At least for me…..Hubs is now a resident with no plans to move back to FL. I still need to try on winter). We are off to a solid start!!

Thankful for a God who loves us so much he makes our wildest wishes come true, even when we can’t begin to imagine how to get there. He continues to amaze me.

Thankful. So very thankful.

I have anticipated this moment from the second we knew we were heading to New Hampshire. SNOW! I purchased my big, long, warm Land’s End coat, snow shoes, variety of socks, leggings and so on. Well. This week, it finally happened and I am ready to report on my experience.

The day before it snowed, I tried out my big coat; I was so warm. In just a T-shirt and leggings underneath, I was almost too warm—and it was 19degrees!! I have full faith this jacket will run the victorious race once “real winter” arrives.

So. First legit snow day and we had about 1-2” depending on where you were standing. It snowed during the night and we woke to a blanket of pure white—it was so pretty. I hated to go out and ruin the perfect canvas, but we have a doggo so out we went.

Bandit was a hoot. Sniffed, pawed, dug a bit. And then Zoomies were activated. This is great news for our short-haired FL dog. I went ahead and ordered him a 2nd sweater though, for “real winter”.

By the time I had to go anywhere, the roads were plowed and salted and driving was easy—although I did go slower than usual and this week we will put on snow tires, which will give me some more peace of mind.

We did take a walk and honestly, it was comfortable. I was layered (tshirt, long shirt, hoodie and rain coat—which is amazing at blocking wind and fleece-lined leggings under some long pants) with hat and gloves and it was awesome. Crisp. Glorious. These are good test days, boding well for skiing and snow-shoeing! Until you are in it, it’s hard to predict how you’ll do.

Currently, it’s still pretty cold and the 10-day forecast shows us in the highs at low 40+/- and lows at 20+/- with snow possible again next weekend. So here we are, dipping our toe in and getting ready to plunge full force into my first New England winter!! Ready or not, here we go!

Peace!

Bandit and I took a hike this week on part of the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway. My knee was (thankfully) feeling better but I wanted to play it a little safer and explore some of the beautiful areas the Hubby has explored.

It actually works out nicely, he hikes it when I am working and reports back places I’d enjoy.

It was a cool day and I had all the layers, water, map, trekking poles, etc. etc. so off we went. This part (section 4) passes through some beautiful farm land and I drove the first mile or so down the dirt road to the Class VI road.

I had a feeling of foreboding as we drove in, which I promptly tucked away because it was a gorgeous bluebird day and I was pumped to see the area. A beautiful lake on the way in, miles of mountains as a backdrop to the trees, I was ready for digging in and soaking up the day.

It was quite stunning. We passed 2 lovely old farms—“Lil Snowbound” and “Snowbound”—named according to the old practice of not plowing smaller roads in the winter thus leaving the homes snowbound. Blue skies, a carpet of leaves with no end, several inches thick and crisp air.

I am happy to report that I was clothed appropriately with multiple layers and my fleece lined leggings (THE bomb) and felt quite cozy in the 42degree weather. Of course, it helped that the prior day’s winds weren’t present!

Approximately 10 minutes into the hike I felt (and heard) something off to my right in the woods. Bandit also stopped and looked. The woods are straight sticks at this time of year and I looked and could see nothing. Now. This was a SIGNIFICANT “thump” followed by rapid retreating. But still. There was NO thing. I looked up, down, back, forward. Nada.

Considering that Bandit didn’t seem too concerned—-no hair on end or growling and that whatever the thump it was going AWAY from us, we soldiered on. In reality, it was probably a chubby chipmunk. One never knows.

Making our way through the leaves and down the trail, Bandit kept stopping and turning around staring at the trail. Again. And again. And again. Now. He always does this, but is generally off leash. There was a truck parked at the trailhead so I kept him leashed until we were a little further down the trail, but after the “large thump” heard earlier, my mind started to play. And I couldn’t shut it off. Even after I finished the Rosary.

After about 15 minutes of this walk, stop, stare, walk, stop, stare I stopped. Took some deep breaths and had a mini discussion with myself weighing my initial foreboding, the thump and Bandit’s kooky behavior and decided to go with my gut and end the hike.

I was disappointed but am learning to trust my instincts. Still not perfect (probably never will be!) but when I listen and act on my gut, it generally pays off. There’s no way to know what calamity I avoided by turning around—-maybe nothing at all—-probably nothing at all—but sometimes you have to trust.

On the way back to the car, as my trekking poles clinked their way down the path, once again, we felt/heard another “thump” and retreat with nary a sight to be seen. Co-workers say probably a moose, that a bear or deer would be quieter. I think I’d see a dang moose!!! Either way……hike ended. Next hike to be with a partner because I’m just a little scaredy-cat. And I’m ok with that.

Peace! Section 4, I’ll be back.

Are we ever going to do away with Daylight Savings time? Twice a year this nonsense……although this year in New England I am in serious shock——it gets dark up here at 4 freaking thirty!!!!

And dark is DARK! I never fully appreciated the expression, “dark as night” until now. High beams in the car are pretty much on (with exception of oncoming, sporadic traffic) in the mornings and on/off at night—more traffic. So, yeah. Dark. As. Night. It’s a thing.

But I will say the morning sunrise is spectacular!

Peace. I’m off for more coffee!

Yesterday I took my first solo hike, 4 miles (probably a little more). I took Bandit, so not completely solo, but he doesn’t talk back so mostly solo.

It was an overcast day and ending up lightly raining, but the temp was nice 60’s and I was itching to get out there, so off we went. A backpack full of water for both of us, light lunch for both of us, rain jacket, first aid kit, hat, gloves, headlamp—-just in case this 4 miler hit a snag.

You know what I forgot? My trekking poles. Note to self: make a checklist for hikes!

The trail was well-marked and had several water crossings since the trail criss-crossed the brook multiple times. The trees were mostly bare and we are now in “stick season” so the ground was a carpet of leaves. Lovely to look at but requiring much attention (for me, maybe not for more seasoned hikers) since the rocks and roots were hidden—-this is where trekking poles would be very useful……

The winding trail led to an alpine forest and the pine smell was amazing. I stopped for several minutes just smelling the air. The lovely alpine forest led to an alpine lake where we stopped for water and lunch and enjoyed the view.

From the lake we hiked up to an overlook—which was my goal for the hike. It did not disappoint.

We headed back down and about a half mile from the trail head my heel caught some leaves and I went down. My right knee (history of multiple surgeries and a bone graft) was the injured party. This. This is why you bring poles. I was somehow able to slow my descent and landed near a rock I could boost myself up on to take stock of what the damage was. After a brief pity part, I pulled out my big girl pants and took a drink of water, collected myself and realized I was able to bear weight. PHEW! We took the remainder of the trail ever so gingerly, with 5 senior citizens passing us (the only people we saw all day). I’ll take the next few days, icing, Advilling, stretching and elevating as much as possible. Don’t forget praying that my ski season isn’t derailed!

Overall, beautiful day with a little speed bump, but that’s life, isn’t it? It could have been so much worse, so I feel like that was a useful (although painful—lit and fig) lesson!

Peace.