Solitude

I enjoyed a solitary walk in a snow-covered Holden Arboretum recently. For 90 minutes I wandered the trails without meeting another person. Ninety minutes of snow-covered solitude is  a very peaceful experience.  Although the walking wasn’t always easy, the landscape was beautiful. It’s truly surprising how different the Arboretum looks when the ground, trees, and water are covered with snow. Here are a few photos comparing similar locations in different seasons.

First: Lotus Pond, one of my regular stops on any visit to the Arboretum, looked like this when I was there in October.

But on this snowy, 20 degree day in February, it looked like this.

If I didn’t know that tall golden willow tree was on the edge of Lotus Pond, I might have walked right out onto (and possibly through) the ice.

Here’s another comparison: Blueberry Pond on October 1, 2015 with rocks in the foreground to anchor the image…

…and Blueberry Pond in February with the same foreground rocks covered by snow.

Just one more comparison. Our grandson Michael walking the Blueberry Pond Trail when he was home for his winter break needed a warm jacket and hat, but he didn’t need boots to hike the trail in that light coating of snow.

Two months later, after a heavy snowfall, this is Blueberry Pond just a few yards to the left of where Michael was standing in the picture above.

A blanket of snow changes the landscape dramatically, and it changes what the walker needs to wear.  On this February day, I wore a heavy jacket, a warm hat plus ear muffs, and cleats on my boots. I don’t fool around when the trails are icy and snow covered, but this was a beautiful day, and a trail walk in the snow-covered Arboretum was one of my photography goals for this winter, a goal I am glad that I accomplished.

Enjoy this gallery of snowy photographs:

Thanks for joining me on the trail today.
I hope you enjoyed the wintry beauty and solitude.
Trail Walker