There’s a thick blanket of snow covering everything right now. I’m planning out my garden projects for the upcoming year, and scouring over seed catalogs. But with all this snow, there’s not much that I can do to be productive outside, right?

Wrong! There’s snow covering all the vegetation on the ground in my garden and local parks, but this is still a great opportunity to observe your region’s evolving ecology throughout the year. I took a walk yesterday at Loveless Nature Preserve near my apartment. It was tiring to trudge through the snow, but it was absolutely beautiful. I frequently stopped, stood still, and listened, smelled, and observed what happens in this forest on a snowy day. While meditating, I noticed changes happening in the forest that I might have otherwise missed. Cold winds made the tall canopy trees sway, raining down clouds of snow, and creating sounds that made me think someone might be walking up behind me. Some birds flew overhead, and I felt that I had a deeper connection and understanding of this place because I had experienced it in a new way. If you have time today, or this weekend, go check out what your local park is like on a quiet snowy afternoon. You won’t regret it!