Winter Refuge

I got up at 6:00 on Monday morning to take a pre-dawn photographic trek into the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge. I snowshoed under twilight for an hour before stumbling into a copse of trees that were dripping with warm glowing light. I fell to my knees--which is pretty difficult when you are wearing snowshoes in two feet of snow-- and immediately setup my panoramic equipment. It was about 8 degrees fahrenheit, so when I put on my thinner gloves for using my camera, my fingers were already numb. I clumsily stumbled through three versions of the same image--two rows of 15 shots. I was shivering, so I packed up my gear and headed home. I didn't know if any of my shots came out well, but I did have a feeling of satisfaction. As I crested one of the hills, I turned back and saw my meandering path arch across the hillside. I was cold, but I was rejuvenated by the beauty of the wilderness refuge. I recall thinking that it would be fun to throw myself down on the powdery snow and and wriggle around on my back like a dog does in the soft green grass of spring.