This is the back end of our property known as the "heath." A nice, wide-open space for a snowshoe if you can tolerate a bracing wind. I like to think of it as my own private badlands. It feels special to be out there because in the summer it's a marsh better-suited for moose than people. I found that out the hard way when Jake and I were looking to cut a new trail, got caught in a thicket and figured the heath was our surest passage home. I'll tell you what a good son Jake is: he came back out with me the next day to take another crack at charting a new trail. And I'll tell you what an idiot I am: I got us caught in pretty much the same thicket and we had to hack our way back. Well, I'm a dope, but I do appreciate love and devotion.

Thanks Jake.