Our sweet webmaster, Dan, checks in with me occasionally...asking about our snow, and yes it is beautiful! And, I found this YouTube video of the rail-to-trail from Yelm to Tenino, WA, where I live. So, just imagine all this covered with white-out snow, lovely...and this video shows the beauty of the prairies here.
This trail is where I walk, and pick blackberries etc. The Tenino part begins just after 9 minutes, and ends at the museum which is just across the parking lot from the Quarry House (made of sandstone) where seniors gather for lunch -- at least we did pre-COVID.
Yelm, where the video begins, is 14 miles from Tenino, from the Native American word Shee-elm, translates as "heat waves rising up from the prairie." Both Rainier and Tenino are around 1800 population...I love hearing from Dan, but still not sure if I can come to SOLVED very often now...a couple of months ago, I did withdraw from Quora, where I have so many long-time friends I tried to keep up there...but just could not do it.
The trees you see in the video are mostly recent, because historically, the Native Americans did controlled burns to keep the forest from encroaching as the climate cooled over the centuries. Those burns protected a major food source, the bulbs of the camas lily that cover these prairies.
Okay, hello to everyone, love to you all, and here is the video of the trail from Yelm, WA to Tenino;