Not a storm blowing in, after all, but a peaceful freshness over crusted landscape. Flakes fall for all our time in the woods. Charlie keeps dropping his bright green tennis ball on the trail in front of me so I will find it and launch it straight up into the sky so he can catch it. What a surprisingly long winter it has been – even though I spent five weeks of it away! A foot of snow wouldn't have crushed me, I have to admit, I imagined I could ski happily into April. My favorite moment of our outing: passing the swamp, stopped by the glow of gold watery straw under white sifted flakes of snow. The skunk cabbage will be late this year, but it will be soon.

All photos and text copyright Kelly DuMar 2018