A good day for a hike

Since we were away last Tuesday I didn't get my cleaning done. So I spent most of Saturday doing my housework. I made a batch of rolls, then cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted the furniture and vacuumed the whole house. It was better to do it then, anyway, because we had our Community Group over on Sunday evening for dinner and a final good-bye. We won't be meeting with our group any more, but will be starting a new ministry. (Maybe more about that at a later date)

So Sunday night we had 9 people over including Andy and me. I made a bit pot of minestrone soup with my homemade dinner rolls. Someone else brought salad and we had a couple of desserts. We put 2 leaves in the dining room table and had a very nice time together.

So since I had just cleaned house on Saturday, I didn't feel the need to do it again so soon. What to do??? Why not go for a hike? It actually was a very nice day: cold and brisk with no wind. We drove down to Lebanon State Forest and were going to walk around Pakim Pond. When we got there, we found the road to the pond was blocked off. We went to another entrance and that one was blocked off, too. So we parked the car and walked in till we got to the pond. Some of the trails were snow covered, but the trail around the pond was 95% clear.
There are some spots around the pond that are really pretty.
We decided the reason the roads were blocked off was because there were a number of tree companies in there cutting down trees and cleaning up the forest. The hardwoods in the forest have really taken a beating from the gypsy moths. In some spots, it hardly looks like a forest. It seemed like most of the oaks were dead.What a shame. I hope it's not too long before the forest can grow back.