First Post, First Big Snow

Well, today is my first post to the Nature Blog. My plan is to post various musings, and likely some ramblings about what is going on in the natural world around Elmira. Today I look out my window at a most wonderful sight; 2 feet of snow and endless potential snowshoeing terrain. In a half an hour, 5 of us will trek out onto the yellow trail here at Tanglewood donned in snowpants and snowshoes. I went out eariler in the month when we got a few inches, fun, but not really challenging. Today should be a different story. Someone tall will blaze the trail, that will not be me. OK, so winter in NY- not always fun. Yesterday I had to back my car down Harris Hill because it just stopped going halfway up. My first year without four wheel drive and I'm regretting it. Today, roads are better, the sun's out and we get to have some adult fun in the snow. Sledding is fun, yes and especially for kids, but snowshoeing is much more mature :-) and a great workout. "They" say it burns 1,000 calories an hour under the right conditions. I'm not sure what the right conditions are, probably involves really heavy deep snow and getting lost? Today the snow is deep but light and hopefully we'll find our way back to the Nature Center. If there are no posts beyond this, send out the big horned sheep- to the yellow trail.