Shake It Off, Shake It Off

And its hard to dance, with the devil on your back
So shake him off!

There are days, very few in number, when my anxiety gets so bad it becomes hard to breathe. These are the days when I can't seem to focus on a single thing that needs to get done, and all of the what-ifs seem swallow me up in a choke hold that wants very much to push me into a panic attack. When I can do nothing else, I throw on my knee-high Docs, shove my head phones in, and just walk it off.

Witchcraft in the woods. Runes made from small twigs of a broken pine bough that made a neat little canopy. 

So wonderful to see this pond without a layer of ice. 

That little distortion in the ripples is actually a massive lump of frog eggs. 

The water was rushing out under an ice flow!

Very fresh deer tracks, and lots of them. 

I'm betting raccoon on these, but I'm no expert. 

Beautiful creek that I felt compelled to hike through the woods to see. It was worth a bit of snow in my boots. 

Oops, I found Spencer State Forest! 

This ended up being a six mile trek in total, with beautiful snow and melting ice. Now I know where the trail head behind my apartment building leads, all the way to the massive state park. When I came home again I felt alive and well once more. Its amazing what just a little stomping around, loud music, and cool air in your lungs can do.