Even though we slipped away to Sheenboro, QC, last week, we couldn't let the year end without one last winter walk. This time we visited Northumberland County, Ontario, which is about three hours West of our house. For obvious pandemic-related reasons, our expedition was pretty low key: just enjoy a change of scenery and perhaps go for some local walks and hikes.
Even aside from the obvious, it's been a strange Christmas season because there has been almost no snow. Usually at this point we're knee deep in the white stuff but we actually had a Green Christmas in Ottawa this year and Northumberland County was hardly better. The forests had a sprinkling of snow but the property surrounding the farmhouse property we stayed at near Castleton, Ontario, had almost none until our last morning there.
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| Snowless in December?! |
I'll say one thing for COVID, it's given a newfound appreciation for the quiet beauty at my doorstep in Ontario and Quebec. Northumberland County is a land of rolling hills, small forests and little creeks. It's Ontario's answer to the rolling countryside of England but at the end of the day it just a pretty place I've somehow always overlooked as I go back and forth between Ottawa and Toronto.
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| We did eventually find some ice and snow in the woods |
The site where we stayed even had a cool tiny microhouse and maze at the top of a hill you can rent with a commanding views of the surrounding (snow-less) hills and farms.
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| The little maze and littler house |
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| View from the top. Ah the beautiful browns and greys of early winter! |
Best of all, it offered just what we needed to end the year: a place for walking, reflecting and a chance to disconnect from the news cycle. (Oh and a nice big fireplace)
2020 - you were a son of a gun. But you didn't stop me and my gang from discovering these simple pleasures. Bring on 2021!
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