Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller Cindy and Mollie and I strapped on snow shoes and headed into the woods on Sunday afternoon. The snowshoe gang relaxes . We had plenty of work to do at home. Ironing for my wife, Cindy, newspaper work for me. Even Mollie, 12, had her piano to practice. But if you can’t make room for a Sunday saunter, then something is wrong, especially on a gorgeous day with temperatures in the thirties. We started at a friend’s house. Our goal was to walk three miles southeast through the woods to another friend’s house. Let’s face it, you can’t get lost in the winter in snow. All you have to do is turn around and follow your footprints back to where you started. That’s one thing I like about snowshoeing. I have a tendency to get turned around in the woods, and it always worries me a little. But not in the winter, with snow on the ground. We started out on a logging road, following our friend’s ski tracks. Mollie wanted to walk down the ski trail, but I told her t...

David Heiller While filing out of church last Sunday, I ran into Bill Hall of Moose Lake. Bill and his wife, Lou, used to own Moose Lake Florists. They sold it last year. They are retired. So I figured they must be going to head south soon. I asked Bill about that as we slowly walked out of church. He answered that he hasn’t had enough of winter yet to head south. Not enough winter? Some people w o uld disagree. I sensed that the notion of goin g south for the winter didn’t appeal to Bill. He explained it to me. There’s a reason people who live i n the north live longer than people from the south, he said. “What’s that?” I asked. Going through four seasons is good for a person, he answered. There’s something about those extreme seasonal changes that is healthy. That’s especially true if you are active, I said. If you snowshoe or ski or split wood in the winter, it should make you a healthier person. My snowshoes, on Malika's feet. ~ Thanks to Malika for the ...