Ice

 

Rory and I took a long walk this morning.

 

Yesterday everything thawed when the high was over 50 degrees, only to refreeze as the temperature dropped nearly to the single digits.

 

The nearly snow-less ground today.
Nearly snow-less ground today
Snow on the ground two days ago.Two days ago.

 

It’s important to tell you about my walks. I don’t like traveling the same roads again and again. I love circular walks, new walks, walks filled with adventure and new sights. However, the neighborhood in which we live wasn’t made for circuitous rambles. So, I usually find myself trekking through the woods at some point rather than turn around and retrace my steps.

 

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I’ve never heard leaves crackle underfoot quite like this. The thaw yesterday left them damp and they refroze, so each step was like the breaking of a hundred tiny sticks.

 

Today I decided on a new journey I was hoping would work. Our neighborhood is bordered by a beach and I was fairly certain a new route would take me down to one part of the beach. That should  connect to the beach in my area thus I could probably walk from one part of the neighborhood to the other.

 

At the end of the road I stepped into the woods.

 

As I walked down through trees, I came upon this:

 

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With the choice to cross the river or walk back up through the woods and retrace my steps I, of course, decided to find a spot to cross the river.

 

Unfortunately it only widened itself to either side as far as I could travel. There were brambles that kept me from moving in either direction.

 

I nearly turned around.

 

And then Rory took a step.

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He didn’t fall in, so I investigated the ice (I have never claimed to make particularly good decisions). Luckily I am here to tell you about it instead of…  I don’t know what.

 

I crossed safely, and we found the river opened up into a tidal pond.

 

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We tramped through the woods and headed to the beach. On the way I found a bridge over the river beyond the brambles.

 

Oops.

 

At the beach, I saw a sight I’d never seen before. Ice, floating on the Chesapeake Bay.

 

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Born Free!

After my induction and intervention-laden birth with my first daughter, I knew I wanted something different and more natural for my next birth. When I became pregnant three years later, I looked into my choices. What I hated most from my first experience was the way I felt focused more on other people in the room than myself. One of my options was unassisted childbirth (UC). Women who choose UC typically have their partner present and possibly a midwife and/or doula. I decided I liked the idea of having no one but my husband around so I could focus on my labor. I feel birth is a natural process, and if something should go wrong we hadn’t already prepared for in our natural birthing classes, we would have a midwife and doula on call just in case. Finally, I wanted my birth to be a special experience my husband and I shared together. Continue reading “Born Free!”