A Snowy Day At Home

 

Song:  A Pillow Of Winds

Group:  Pink Floyd

It is supposed to snow for two days up here.

I don't mind at all.

The scenery constantly changes...

and when the sun and blue skies return...

it is even more beautiful.

I took Bandi out to use the bathroom and I then took her on a short walk.

I know it is hard to believe...

but, unless the wind is blowing...

while the air is crisp...

it doesn't feel cold...

as there is very little moisture in the air.

With the air being dry...

it doesn't transfer the heat from the body efficiently.

I often take Bandi out in just my sweat pants and a t-shirt...

however, for today...

just in case the wind picked up

(I knew I was going to take Bandi on a short stroll)...

I wore my snow jacket over my T-shirt, and I had on a beanie.

But, unless the wind is blowing...

and the temperature is really low...

I don't wear gloves.

The other day...

as I was cleaning the dishes after a meal...

I looked out the kitchen window and saw this very large coyote walking up my ridge...

just about in the location of the center of this photo.

At first I thought it was a wolf...

but it had the extra long legs of a coyote

(in ratio to its body..the wolf is much stockier).

Although I had heard the howling of a pack of them once...

sometime ago...

this was the first glimpse of one I had seen.

Of course...

from a distance...

it is hard to be sure of size...

but by the length of its stride...

and the quickness it had covered the ground at a leisurely pace...

it was very large and tall at the hips and shoulders...

at least for a coyote.

(However...after I researched it...

it may have been a Coywolf...

a hybrid wolf/coyote).

It was simply too large to be a standard coyote...

which usually tops out at 50 lbs.

Bandi weighs over 70 lbs...

and the creature I had seen looked to be much larger than is Bandi.

What I had seen appeared to be larger than a German Shepard.

And...the creature had a reddish tone to its fur.

I am actually taking Bandi to farther out places in the forest so she may mark her territory...

thereby eventually marking out the perimeter of the property.

I had once seen tracks in the snow of a deer which had walked up towards the house...

but had then walked off 90 degrees from Bandi's bathroom area

once she had smelled her scent.

And...

yes...

if I ever see the tracks of a mountain lion or bear on the ground or in the snow...

I am going to start carrying my shotgun loaded with bear slugs

every time I take Bandi out to her forest bathroom.

However...

both would be rare in my area.

Most of their prey are located at lower altitudes...

where their food grows.

After tomorrow's snowfall...

I will probably need to use my snow blower on the driveway...

but only if I need to drive somewhere.

Before going inside...

I took Bandi around to the front of the 2nd deck.

Bandi is so funny...

throughout much of our walk...

she would pick up mouthfuls of snow.

She likes to run in the snow and then chomp at and eat some.

Again...

Bandi was made for cold and wet environments...

and as this is a high altitude temperate environment...

 she is already well equipped for the weather we get here.

She has a dense double coat.

She loves going on long walks or runs up here...

especially in the snow.

Right at the horizontal apex of the great room...

I will be placing a beautiful Christmas tree starting this November.

I am thinking of keeping it up until the middle of January or so.

And sometime later...

I plan to get a semi-circular sofa near the front windows at the apex.

I will also put a rounded coffee table for the center of it.

It will be the gathering place for when guests come.

It will offer grand views out the front of the windows.

This is looking out the rear loft windows.

There is a large tree just outside these windows...

and it collects large amounts of snow on its branches.

I can just imagine how nice that Christmas tree will look once it is standing there

near the front apex of the windows and all lit up.

These truffles (from France...on Amazon)...

are not only a tremendous deal ($30.00 for 4.4 lbs)...

they ship with two boxes which are 1 Kilogram each.

These just melt in your mouth and send a wave of chocolaty goodness

down your whole body.

I just reclined in my chair and finished off the rest of this box as I listened to my music list

over my mantle speakers.

As I was doing this...

Pink Floyd's - A Pillow of Winds came on.

It was just so perfect.

I devoured truffle after truffle as I reclined back and took in the magnificent view before me...

 a whole forest being covered in falling snow.

This is on the 3rd floor deck.

I was out here for several minutes...

barefooted and in a T-shirt and sweat pants.

Again...

with no wind blowing...

it is simply not so cold outside.

I actually shut off the heat to most of the house.

My heating systems and the insulation are so efficient

that it remains so comfortable inside that I usually just

walk around barefooted and in sweat pants and a T-shirt.

---------

As I have nowhere I need to go...

tomorrow I am thinking that I will do some reading...

with some guitar practice in between.

While it is always so peaceful and serene here...

it is never boring.