Song: Spring Waltz
Original Composer: Chopin
I was supposed to go snow boot shopping yesterday...
but I had awakened to a minor snowfall.
And although it hadn't lasted long...
I was afraid that there would be black ice on the roads...
and so...
I waited for today to do my shopping.
It was all blue skies...
and the sun was out in full force.
As one of the major towns near me is still half an hour away...
anytime I go there...
I treat myself to a meal out.
I am turning on to the road from my driveway.
This is just down the street...
...and this is just around the following two corners as I head down the mountain.
My trip down the mountain is only three miles.
I then get onto the major road to town.
I am just approaching the town of Woodland Park...
a relatively short country drive away (1/2 an hour).
This is where I do most of my shopping...
whenever I don't shop online...
or when I go for my Asian Market shopping...
for which I drive into Colorado Springs (1 hour).
I decided to eat at my favorite Greek restaurant in Woodland Park.
I love Persian, Greek, and Turkish food.
This was a combination plate of beef, lamb, and chicken.
I had also gotten a chocolate baklava and a lavender white mocha for dessert.
Although I don't eat sweets so often...
in cold weather...
I crave chocolate.
This was my view at the Greek restaurant.
I am less than ten minutes from my shopping destination here...
at Walmart.
I was just a few minutes away here.
I am pulling into the Walmart parking lot.
Walmart is straight ahead.
I found what I was looking for and I headed back home.
As the sun had warmed the air to a positively balmy 46 degrees F (7.7 C)...
considering it is winter...
I drove with all of the windows open...
with my music and my singing voice on high...
(One thing I love about Bandi...
she never complains about my singing...
even when I am out of tune :)
With the air so fresh and crisp...
I always feel so alive.
I just have to sing along with my favorite music.
I pulled onto my mountain road...
going back home.
As you can see...
where ever there was any shade...
there was still ice on the road.
I am almost home.
And just through the trees is my house to the center right.
And there it is.
And...
my snow boots.
I will be using these around the outside of my house...
during snow storms...
and when I take Bandi out to use the bathroom in the forest.
I had also bought these slip over ice crampons.
The have metal studs on the bottom to grip ice.
I had almost slipped several times on ice.
Both...
the boots and the slip on crampons together only cost $39.00
at Walmart.
As I won't be using the boots for anything other than
walking around outside with Bandi during or just after snow storms...
snow blowing my driveway...
or doing limited snow shoveling on the decks...
I didn't need to get specialized hiking snow boots.
These are insulated and waterproof...
and high enough to keep out the snow.
And...
although I am okay walking around in my regular shoes right now...
winter has only just begun...
and we sometimes have many feet of blizzard driven snow.
So...
to keep the snow from piling up too high...
I will have to snow blow the driveway during these blizzard conditions
so as to not allow it to build up faster and higher than I could
snow blow or shovel it.
------------------
Just as I was finishing this post...
the sun started setting.
I went to the third floor deck and took these shots:
Bandi is so funny.
She loves keeping a careful watch over her home.
She loves the vantage point of the third floor deck.
Here she is looking left...
right...
and then center as she sniffs the air and perks her ears
to see if she can detect any intruders onto her territory.
And I took the following sunset shots from the third floor deck doorway.
A fitting end to a beautiful day.
