Cabin fever got the best of me this morning so the dogs and I headed for a walk in the woods to check progress on the thaw that began today. We wandered around listening to the sounds of silence and were rewarded immediately with the sight of eight or ten deer scampering across the pasture to the next thicket of woods. The muddy slopes were covered with leaves that made for easier climbing and patches of snow lingered everywhere on moss covered tree trunks. Looking upward into the blue, I spotted a hawk spreading its' wings to glide like a floatplane. An invisible woodpecker tapped away somewhere high among the bare branches.

The eeriest sound was that of the ice gently cracking in the slough. Though I could not see it, I could hear the thaw beginning. Faith and Butterbean ran and played like little kids, chasing each other and snarling. Faith loves the water, and couldn't quite understand why it wasn't splashing all around her as it usually does when she goes for a dip. They're both napping now. I think I'll join them.