As part of my word of the year (breathe) and my goal to spend 1,000 hours outside in 2021, I’m planning to check in here with monthly outdoor reports. The idea is to consolidate notes about hiking, the garden, the bird feeders, and other outdoor time in one spot – at least until the garden wakes up enough from winter slumbers to need its own monthly posts. So here goes:

January wasn’t the best outdoor month. That’s largely because the first two weeks of the month were consumed by work – sixty-plus hours each week, oof. The workload is a tiny bit lighter these days, which does help, and I’m trying to keep it that way. And I did manage to get out on the trails and in the garden quite a bit, in the meantime.

Trail report. It was a good month for hiking – lots of good sunny days, and one lovely snowfall. It’s been a tradition of ours for a few years now to start off the year with a New Year’s Day hike. This year, both of the kids begged off, so my parents graciously babysat while Steve and I had a day date at the Pine Bush Preserve in Albany – one of our favorite New York hiking spots. Back home in Virginia, we hiked at our local favorite, Riverbend Park, several times, both upstream and down (including once in the snow; I used my snowshoes and it was glorious). We also hit up Great Falls Park (recap here) and checked out a new-to-us hiking spot at Beaverdam Reservoir. Although my ulterior motive for suggesting Beaverdam was to scope out the kayak and SUP launch spot for warmer days ahead, we really enjoyed the hike – I predict it’s going to become a favorite going forward.

In the garden. As I type this, the garden is sleeping under a blanket of snow; I haven’t done much this month, other than planning and dreaming. Still trying to decide what to do about the wild area between my house and patio; my current plan is to throw a handful of wildflower seeds at it and see what happens. What could go wrong? Other than plotting spring exploits, I haven’t done much. Tidied up the woodpile and burnt a stack of yard waste in my fire pit – that’s all. I’m getting itchy to rake up the leaves and straighten up, but I’m resisting the impulse for now; the birds and other little critters need the dead leaves and sticks for their cozy winter habitats.

At the feeders. Speaking of the birds – it’s been an active month at the feeders. Between our winter visitors (dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows) and the year-round residents, our front yard is turning into an all-day-and-all-night bird buffet. Recently we’ve gotten some new birds stopping by; in some cases, welcome, and in other cases, not so much. The bluebirds that live in the neighborhood year round have been popping by to supplement their winter diets with some of my suet, and it’s always exciting to see them. On the other end of the spectrum, a gang of European starlings recently turned up. I could write an essay about why I don’t want these voracious, invasive bully birds at my feeder, but I will resist the impulse. To discourage them, I put in some time setting up a new feeder station – moving the expensive food the starlings love into a caged tube feeder they can’t access, and filling up the other feeders with safflower, which they won’t eat. I also hosed off the tray feeder and filled it with sunflower seeds and peanuts, both in shells, which the starlings’ wimpy beaks can’t handle. I put in an hour on the feeders the day before we were expecting a big snowstorm (that didn’t totally materialize, but we did get some snow) and the birds definitely appreciated it; they chowed down.

1000 hours outside. Slow start to the year – only logged 13.5 hours of outdoor time between hiking, gardening, and a little bit (a very little bit) of outdoor running. I’ll have to pick up the pace substantially over the rest of the year! I’m in a deep hole now. But once the weather improves I predict I’ll be spending more and more time outside, so I’m not worried about it.

That’s it for January – one of my favorite months of the year, actually, but a bit lame this time around thanks to a heavy work schedule, which happens. Hoping for more outdoor runs and walks in February, and of course some good trail time.