Still Winter here

I've been watching the thermometer bounce up and down between painfully cold and where wearing a light sweatshirt will suffice.  Today, though a bit overcast, feels reasonably warm.  Traveling down the snowshoe trails, one sees evidence of the forest critters finally coming out of their hiding places. 

In the early morning, while walking the trails you can hear the ice cracking and water moving beneath the snowpack.  Periodically, you hear the chatter of the small rodents as they hurry along in their snow tunnels.  As the snow melts away, these tunnels stand out like veins until they finally collapse, exposing the trails and winter stashes collected there.  According to the local statistics, we've had nearly 100" of snow this winter.  Some areas just East and South of us have had more, so we're grateful for the lot we drew.