[Journal for December 27, 2013; Brants Hill, Auburn Maine after an ice storm]. Dallas and I have been staying in Lewiston so as to be able to visit Dallas’ mother in Auburn Maine. We take a morning walk up Brants Hill, a low hill on the western side of the city. We park by the Middle School off of Court Street and don our snowshoes, for about six inches of icy snow lies on the ground. An ice storm earlier in the week has left a rind of ice on all the trees and bushes, which are now beautifully lit by the sun. The morning is clear, with temperatures in the mid twenties, Fahrenheit.

We first walk across a field behind the school and then connect with a snowmobile track that takes us up onto the crest of the hill. A little stand of White Pine trees decorates the summit, but the hill just below them is open and the view northward towards Speckled Mountain and eastward towards the city of Lewiston is clear. The vegetation on east side of the hill is especially thick with ice and glittering in the morning sun.

We walk through the woods near the Taylor River and then head back.

About forty minutes.