A Hunter of Stories

Snow Play leads to Snow-covered Safari

From the moment the snow began to fall on Saturday, Dec. 5, my two-year-old daughter Abi was all about the snow.

She wanted to run in it.

She wanted to stomp in it.

She even wanted to make a “snow bear” … her version of a snowman … in it.

Seeing the wintry world through her eyes was truly a blessing as it caused me to open my eyes and try to see as she did.

She squealed, laughed, pointed, muttered, called out, yelled and even laughed some more … an very much excited.

Several times that Saturday, we caught her running through the house with mittens in hand to the door only to run back to us and try to drag us to the door.

It did not matter that it was dark outside just as it did not matter that she had already stripped herself down to her white colored bottoms.

All she knew was that there was snow outside, and she wanted in it.

The next morning, she awoke and immediately was calling out as she was wide awake and there was snow on the ground.

As soon as she was out of her room, she was a blur up the couch to the large picture window and then just a much of a blur running to get her mittens.

A crying fit ensued when I told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to have to eat her breakfast before we could even think about going outside.

After several minutes, she settled down and ate her waffle.

When she finally made the escape to the wintry wonderland, she found the day a bit brighter than the day before and the snow a little bit deeper.

Her small legs pumped hard as she plowed her way from the front yard to the back yard and back again (many times) through the snow to see everything there was to see.

She visited the “snow bear” a few times as well and even played and played and played and played with the white powder.

Try as I may, she did not want to keep her mittens on as they restricted hr ability to touch the white stuff a bit too much for her tastes.

So we battled over mittens and jackets and boots with her two-year-old mind being very persistent but obsessed with the piles and piles of flakes.

Did also mention that she fell quite a few times in the powder?

This normally happened when she reached a section of snow slightly deeper than the rest and these moments became very frustrating for her.

When she at last had her fill of trudging, she led the way back towards the house but when I thought she was ready to go in, she mouthed one word over and over …

“Ride?”

Not through with the snow just yet, Abi decided it was time to see the snow as it existed elsewhere and take in the wintry sites in the process.

And we did just that.

Setting our sights for Waynesboro, we let the adventuring begin with her perched in her car seat (more like the captain’s chair) in the back and me in the front driving with my camera beside me.

She wanted to take in the sites, so I figured … Why not look for a few photos in the process.

The first photograph came along Wayne Avenue in Waynesboro where I caught sight of friends out for a leisurely stroll under the snow-covered trees as they followed the sidewalk to church.

From there, I turned the car in the direction of Ridgeview Park where an ice-covered parking lot awaited.

Thankfully, there was only one other vehicle in the lot so hazards were less in driving and more in walking to grab the next photograph which was of the metal pedestrian footbridge as it spans the South River.

At this point, I figured it safe to turn back towards home, choosing to take the long way back as we kept our eyes open for some country scenes.

Not only did road itself off an eye-catching setting, but what Abi thought to be cows grazing atop a snow-covered pasture turned out to be horses that were also pleasing to the eye and photo worthy.

And even after that, I caught sight of a favorite line of trees (something I have photographed before) and could not resist adding their snow setting to the collection.

— Mike Tripp, U.S.S. Pathfinder / A Ship of the Cache

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“Adventures of the Pathfinder” follows the adventures of “Team Pathfinder” (aka. U.S.S. Pathfinder of the Ships of the Cache) of which Mike Tripp is a part as they explore the world with an adventurous spirit and a lot of fun.