Queen of the Hill

The snow kept falling every day, and every day I kept thinking, "This is Ohio, it will be gone by tomorrow." But it wasn't. It kept snowing from February 2 through February 20. 

I had only been skiing in the meadow by our house. I had never even thought of skiing in any of the local parks. But Brian had said he had seen ski tracks at Gallant Woods, which meant it was skiable. And I had confidence and energy to try the parks, as I had been skiing daily for a couple of weeks. So I proposed that we try to ski the trails in at least three of our local parks before the snow melted.

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On Sunday morning we got up early to ski at Hogback Ridge. Brian and Kala's routine was to go to Panera first, for coffee, then to head to a park for a walk.

When the cold hit me, I hadn't realized it was only 16' out. It took from our house to Panera for my heated seat to get warm. Then we started to enjoy the drive. The sun was out, the fresh snow still glittering. There were some snow swept arm fields unbroken by corn stubble. I mentioned Manitoba, or maybe Yellow Knife. Brian said he had always wanted to see Yellow Knife. 

And then we say the Queen of the Hill. A lone cow standing on top of a manure pile. Probably it was warm on her feet. It certainly wouldn't have been warm in the cold wind. We drove past with me craning my head back to keep watching her. Then I asked Bran to turn around to let me get some photos. Even when I walked up to the gate, she never moved. It was hilarious.

We got to Hogback ridge and just skied the short loop. 

​Lovely, but not as nearly as memorable as The Queen.

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