Saturday, December 26, 2009

A Tale Of Winter


I'm back once again to bring you a winter's tale. It's not the greatest story ever told, but what do you want for free? All I can say is that if you read all the way to the end I'll give you a big thank you.

What you see in this picture is the path that leads up to the viewing platform for Carpenter Lake. On the other side of that big fence is a small dam that lets out into a creek. The creek flows for many miles into the Rouge River. The Rouge River flows directly into the big Detroit River.

Some of you have wondered recently where this Carpenter Lake is located. It's just off of 10 Mile Road, just east of Inkster Road in Southfield, Michigan. I'm not sure how the lake got its name. The park here is named after the lake. The park and the lake are both small, but they make up for it with a great view and plenty of wildlife.


This park is the place I've been going most of the time for my daily hikes. I like it because I can travel the whole park before it gets dark. Until the days begin to lengthen again I have to stick to smaller places like this.

Last year I got caught in an unexpected snowstorm before I was able to get out of a bigger place than this. The wind began to blow very hard, and the sky turned dark too fast that day. On my way out I found many downed trees that weren't like that when I went in, including one that was very effectively blocking my path. I won't take that risk again.


Now I know this story seems to be meandering around for no reason, but I actually have a very good reason for this post. The snow you see on the ground in these pictures is gone! On Christmas it rained all day long and washed the snow away. We had a bit of a warm spell, but it rained the whole time.

I know we'll have much more snow before winter is done, but I wanted to show you our first big snowfall of the year before the next time I go out. Besides, as the winter goes on there won't be as many animals for me to show you, so I'll have to practice getting my creative juices flowing so that my posts will still be entertaining.

There you go, that's my reason for the winding story. And that's the essence of what an everyday adventure is anyway. And just to show you I didn't forget what I said... (In full Elvis voice) THANK YOU!!! Thank you very muuuch.

12 comments:

  1. The park looks absolutely beautiful in it's blanket of snow. We also had rain yesterday. It was predicted to turn to freezing rain which thankfully it never did. I know it's coming though. Have a great weekend

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  2. It's almost 3:30AM and I still haven't been to bed yet...headed that way, though. It's about 45 degrees right now but we had a beautiful sunny day yesterday, up to about
    60! No snow, of course, though they are skiing at Tahoe.

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  3. Christmas Day here was chilly, but nice - no more rain and no snow (I'm from the north but now live in the south: Snow + Southerners = MANY Wrecks). I am really enjoying your virtual hikes and the blanket of white stuff (that I don't actually have to shovel...hooray! :o)

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  4. The park still looks beautiful in the winter!

    I'm just glad that all the snow melted..no shovel..

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  5. It is 26 degree, no snow, the wind is refreshing, and of course, the sun is bright.

    I see green everywhere.

    It is now your winter time, and my summer which last for whole year long.

    And you say thank you, I'll say welcome.

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  6. All we got in East Texas was snow flurries!

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  7. Christmas day here was overcast and by 9 pm it was sleeting real bad. I was happy to get home before that all started. Nasty morning here today with ice all over everything but it's melting fast as the day goes by. Didn't see a creature stirring for a few hours this morning. You have a nice, peaceful place to go there Ratty.

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  8. One thing about this time of year for people south of us is that it can change very quickly to white, then nonwhite....here? Once it is white, it pretty much stays that way until April. ha Alhtough, we also had rain yesterday, which is odd for us. It only lasted a little while, but it did rain. Looking forward to your 2010 blogposts, Ratty. I am sure you will come up with wonderful things for us.

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  9. Ratty- I like it! I like getting a perspective on your walks. OK, this is a place I don't know at all. I never went that far from A2 for a hike when I was there. We had rain and freezing rain. C-mas eve was very treacherous. But just crunchy today.

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  10. wow! white christmas! i still dream of experiencing white christmas one day :-D

    christmas here in the Philippines is cold too (but not white, hehe.. we don't have winter here..)

    happy holidays to you!

    I hope u can visit mt blogs too!

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  11. Lovely pics. Ratty....we had snow christmas day but a big thaw on boxing day (thats 25th in england) so now we are left with the dirt that's left behind.....I don't know that we will get more snow but I don't mind...I'm perfectly happy to look at the cold wet stuff in your posts!!

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  12. That park is gorgeous no matter the season. That Winter look is breathtaking, now I know why you spend your days there :)

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