excerpt
…tracking through the south quarter and, as the snow fell, it was a
joy to get dressed in a pair of felt boots with a warm pair of socks
or wraparound rags (hanuchka), warm fleece lined underwear,
overalls, parka, a toque and leather mitts with wool liners. Well
dressed, the cold was not a threat, particularly in the woods where
the wind howled overhead but was barely noticeable at ground
level. We had our paths which followed the summer time cattle
trails and which we could stay on or ignore if we chose to.
How different the woods were in the winter! We explored
clumps of trees which we could not enter in the summer because
of the undergrowth and crawled over or ploughed through snow
banks on the edges of sloughs where water prevented us from going
during the warmer weather. We followed animal
tracks—weasels and rabbits and deer and others that we did not
readily identify. We saw where partridges burrowed into the
snow for shelter and were startled when they flew away from
right in front of our noses. Occasionally, we saw deer foraging in
the areas where the winds had swept the snow off the grass in the
small clearings in the growth of poplars…
Libros Libertad 