Last day of darkness

Tomorrow is the solstice. I can’t wait to begin adding light to the day. 

A few weeks ago I began the Dark Days Challenge to eat locally and at the same time challenged myself to do something local outdoors each week.  This week we enjoyed the first snowshoe evening of the season. It was zero when I arrived at French Park in Plymouth, dark and cold. But the wind had died down so the evening had promise. Four out of seven women showed up to snowshoe. Hearty Minnesota women not disheartened by the cold weather.

We meandered down towards the lake. There was no moon so it took a little for our eyes to adjust to the darkness. Toes and fingers warmed up as we continued along the shoreline. We did have to change our path when we sank through some soft ice but no one got wet so we were ok.

In the warmer months we follow trails and paths when we walk or bike. This nite, with fresh snow covering the trails we simply wandered like children do when they walk about. We didn’t really have a destination or a plan, just enjoyed moving along on our snowshoes, breaking trail in the snow, catching up with each other and eventually ending back where we began.

I look forward to more evenings out on skis and snowshoes!  What have you been doing outdoors lately?