12/22/25 – The solstice really does feel like the official kickoff of winter around here.  Sure, there’s been snow for about a month, but not quite enough to justify breaking out the snowshoes or skis.  In the last handful of days, however, we tipped the scales to the point where it feels like you’re really stomping around in it.  The best!

To celebrate the occasion, I dug my snowshoes out of the basement and headed for the woods.  The weather cooperated perfectly with a total absence of wind and some of the bluest sky I can recall.  A moose had been out and about before me so I wasn’t the only one who had the idea of going for a stroll.  I followed their tracks for quite a while before they veered off toward a patch of tasty looking twigs.

I finished off my hike on the lake where the snow wasn’t quite as deep as the woods, but I was still glad to have on my snowshoes.  Back inside I made myself a cup of spruce tea from a handful of black spruce tips I collected along the way.  A happy solstice indeed.  -Jessica