Sunday morning, icy roads, 18 degrees and soft snowfall … the perfect day to snuggle on the couch, drink some tea and watch a movie, right? Wrong! At least not for nature-lovers like me and my husband!

Just when we were about to give up on hoping to play in the Louisville snow this winter, magic happened. We woke Sunday morning to a cold, but beautiful snowy day.

We arrived at the PNC Achievement Center and were informed by park staff about the icy conditions and certain closed areas – and we were very grateful for their hard work to salt the road, parking lots and walking paths. But, this tiny inconvenience did not stop our Sunday morning “journey”.

You see, we are Turkey Run Park fans, but we decided to explore Beckley Creek Park. Oh, we had so much to do and see!

We decided to hike the Black Willow Trail. While exploring we played in the snow, got our boots dirty, did some bird-watching (oh yes, gracious Cardinals were flying from branch to branch), listened to the icy-cold water running down Floyds Fork and admired those funny ducks, swimming around the wetlands like they would not have any care in the world!

                     
Our bonus, and favorite moment, was walking past a family at the Grand Allee whose children were absolutely delighted to start a snowball fight. Two kids, having a great time, giggling and chasing each other – it definitely drew a big grin to our frozen faces! It made us feel like we were part of a winter wonderland canvas.

We believe that snowy days not only offer fun, but also a great chance to learn about our local landscape. Our hike was a great opportunity to see nature not in grassy green or winter grey … but in the gorgeous white of the snow and the fiery red of cardinals. And on top of that, it was a great work out! After all, “walking is cheap, fun, safe and acceptable exercise”, according to the great American adventurer, Annie Taylor.

I leave you with one thought today …

Beckley Creek Park in the winter: what a great place to be!

Adrienn Carman is a nature, fun and art-loving lady. She is from Romania and got her degree in Communication. Currently she is working hard at an elementary school in Anchorage, KY. She loves to spend her holidays travelling, exploring, hiking and camping with her husband, Curtis, The Parklands’ Education Coordinator.

• (function(d, s, id) {
  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
  js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=289268557818459”;
  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
  }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
• Tweet
  !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);

• (function() {
  var po = document.createElement(‘script’); po.type = ‘text/javascript’; po.async = true;
  po.src = ‘https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js’;
  var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
  })();