a.k.a. V.J.

I started 2024 off with a hike at Beaver Lake Nature Center. I can’t say it’s a full-blown tradition, but it’s something I’ve done on a few past New Year’s Days and will continue in the future as weather permits. A nature hike seems as good a way as any to celebrate the new year, and today was perfect for it: crisp but not too cold, and with a fine dusting of fresh snow to add some visual interest.

I walked the Three Meadows Trail. It’s not one of my favorites, but it’s 1.5-mile length was right around the distance I felt like going. Also, the facility’s trails were quite crowded today as Beaver Lake promotes some activities for New Year’s Day (no doubt trying to attract resolution makers who had vowed to exercise more in 2024). The more accessible, popular trails were gummed up with groups of walkers. I knew Three Meadows would be relatively unpeopled.

It was a good walk. I got lost in my thoughts for long stretches but was still mindful of the surroundings, which offered everything one would want from a winter trek through the woods. The air was fresh. It was peaceful. For about half an hour, at least, all was indeed quiet on New Year’s Day.