Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- Dec 30, 2018

Camping In Winter

It is not uncommon for the first snow to fall as late January in the Midwest, and no snow was forecast or fell in Illinois on Christmas 2018. Children were probably disappointed and the young at heart too. It was a little silly for me to be disappointed because snow and ice make driving so difficult, but there it was, I was disappointed. I love bright sparkling of snow, how it softens sound. I love the invigorating touch of it before I run inside where it is warm. Snow makes me cheerful. So I entertained myself with a favorite snow memory as follows.

Once long ago in early winter, I was headed north into the beautiful Minnesota woods, with its shining 10,000 lakes, fragrant pines, and reclusive forest creatures. I do not remember where I was going, I went up north so many times just to breath in the beauty of it, but I do remember that at nightfall I found a likely spot to put up my pup tent, just out of view of the road but close enough to access my vehicle in the event of predators of any sort. I parked my vehicle behind some bushes just off of the road. I pitched and zipped up my tent for the night, in a pretty little meadow. When I awoke the next morning it was dark and warm in my tent, which was puzzling as the day before had been bright and cold. I double-checked the time to see where I was in the day, it was 8:00 AM, just past sunrise, time to go before any local rowdies woke up and went prowling. My tent door would not unzip, so I peered outside a window flap, and found a winter wonderland. It had snowed in the night, a deep, quiet snow that had piled up over my tent. A winter breeze blew flurries of snowflakes across the meadow, muting sound and color. I breathed in the beauty of it for long, loving seconds, then whisked away the snow at my tent door and drove on into my day, through a winter wonderland.

One of my favorite songs is:

Walking In A Winter Wonderland - Dean Martin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFP0VwpPRY