It’s official: I am obsessed and giddy about the snow right now. Winter has arrived and is here to stay. These early snowfalls have made for some wonderful family adventures in New Mexico’s snow covered forests.

Peace and tranquility come to mind when I look out at the landscape blanketed in white. Not much else can calm me as much as a winter wonderland. At first glance the landscape appears simple, a white carpet with trees sticking out but the more you are in it, the more you experience the stories it has to tell.

Following a big snowfall there is a blank canvas just waiting to be marked. A few days later it begins to reveal its secrets. The footprints, pine leaf litter, snowmelt divots, runaway snowball trails, ski and snowboard tracks, and bootprints showing the paths taken. It’s incredible; I can’t help but ask the question. Where are they going? Are they looking for food, meeting friends, or did they get stuck?

Within two weeks our New Mexico landscape has completely changed and created an entirely new playscape. Anyone can get out and enjoy it. You can take a simple hike, slide along in cross country skis, climb up hills in snowshoes, go sledding with the kids, and zoom past atop a snowboard. So get out and enjoy it; I sure am and I can’t help but wonder, when will it snow again?