a brisk walk past a fat neighbor on a winter day

Ok - yes, I agree, a melt can give the impression of imprints, though not necessarily 'foot' prints - that's not important, 'footprints' is fine if that was your impression, or the impression you intended to make. I read this -
"This holy ground

is sanctified by only me, and the footprints
of snow..."
and assumed that they were associated with you (your steps) in some way. So for me, ambiguous, but now you've explained, I can see the intention. I'm a bit pedantic that way :>

*footnote* So, I've read it over again - now I can see it's you and the footprints...I do so much 'reading into' that I forget how to just read :>