Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Venturing out during the Blizzard of 2015 - this is before the snow started really falling

So, everyone has been asking us “Why are you spending the winter in New England?” Snow, of course! And did we get some snow! The Blizzard of 2015 dropped record amounts of snow and blasted us with near-hurricane-force winds in some areas, principally Cape Cod and the islands (Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket). We fared nicely, tucked in our warm little house in Dennis Port. Chris did succumb to a bit of cabin fever during the storm, but was quite the trooper afterward, shoveling out not only our path and car (three times, actually, trying to keep ahead of the accumulation – no luck there), but also the car of a neighbor a block or so away. Hopefully, someone will come by and plow the lane so we can actually get the car out. A contractor came through during the storm, but we haven’t seen him since. At least we’ve got a beautiful winter wonderland!

Post-blizzard, pre-final shoveling (the car was cleared off last night)

 

 

Perhaps this path, shoveled for the third time now, will stay clear

There's actually a deck, table, and chairs under there

A snowy sun!

The house across the street is nearly buried in drifts

Cape Cod Rail Trail

After a week lying on the couch trying to get over a cold, I really needed to get out and get some exercise. Of course, on the cape in January that meant laying up, but at least the temperature was above freezing (well, at least at freezing) and the sky was beautifully blue. We decided to check out the Cape Cod Rail Trail. As the name indicates, the path was originally part of an old railroad corridor. It runs 22 miles from Dennis to South Wellfleet, with a spur at Harwich that runs out to Chatham. Though it crosses some roads, the path winds mostly though old forests, past cranberry bogs and ponds. One pretty view was of West Reservoir, where several species of ducks and a couple of swans paddled in the water that was rapidly icing in from the shoreline. A great blue heron looked on from its perch on a gnarled tree ashore. Next time we'll bring binoculars for a better look. Here they also had a marker with information about the "river herring" (alewife and blueback herring) that inhabit these waters during a portion of their life cycle. We walked to the 2.2-mile mark before turning around so we would be back to the car before dark.

Winter bog

West Reservoir

Granite distance marker on trail