Few can see winter for more than that frozen tundra time of year between fall and spring, good for very little other than hunkering down at home with a mug of hot chocolate in a frozen seige against windchills and snow storms.

But a simple walk can go a long ways toward changing that attitude. Something so basic as walking through snow nobody else has can make you feel like a trailblazer.

A frozen world can offer a deafening silence, freeing a work, stress-adled mind from the bonds that plague us every day. Even the sound of walking on brittle ice can be satisfactory, nevermind the fun that cross country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and of course sledding that comes with a heavy snow.

Few things can match the display Mother Nature puts on her canvas when water freezes in unique patterns and the world feels clean.

I hope my brief walk through the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center puts you in the mood to take your own walk and give winter a chance. You might be surprised and if nothing else, it will make that mug of hot chocolate taste that much better.