4 Wheel Drive

The cold and fog continue. No new snow, so we get to clean up the mess that buried us in December. It made the Holiday Season very quiet, since none of the kids that live elsewhere could make it up the hill to visit. The roads are finally clear down below on the highway, still ice in spots, but everyone is generally travelling near the posted speed limits now. Up here is a different story. I still need 4 wheel drive to get the truck in and out of the garage and even down to the barn. There is too much packed ice to walk down and back safely. I keep it in 4X4 until I come off the hill, where it seems like another country or season with clear roads and diminishing snow packs. The fog has frozen onto all the tree branches and they are beautiful and white. I will get out with the camera next time the sun comes out to get a photo or two of the whiteness. The world up here looks like an Ansel Adams print, all black and white. Very quiet. Fog bank ebbs and flows like the tide on the ocean. Some pictures will help me remember the stark beauty later this year when I am complaining about the heat!! There are loads of elk and moose loitering around, so I'll need my trusty 4 wheel drive to carry me around to photograph the scenery. I'll have the truck to run to if I happen to come across an unsuspecting critter.... been chased by a mama moose before, not an experience I wish to repeat!! So, as soon as I get a few hours to putter, I'll load up the camera gear into the trusty protective 4X4 and record the beautiful spaces where we live.