the color of january

There's plenty of color in January.

A New England winter may not be as green as other seasons,

but it's beautiful all the same.

~~~~~

crystal clear

See anything familiar in this photograph?

How about now?

I took Piper for a little walk in the woods by the pond today.
It was very cold, but the air was crystal clear and the sky, pale blue.

At this time of year, when it's safer to just assume that something is "in season" for hunters, and also that people may be hunting where it is not allowed, I keep Piper on lead until I'm as sure as I can be that there are no other people in the area. Then I let her roam a bit.

While I take loads of photographs.

We had a fine time.

It set me back on chores, and tomorrow I'll probably be gritting my teeth while trying to move extra hay because my back was aching too much to lift bales when we got home. But I'm glad we went. Especially since freezing rain is now predicted to start tonight and continue right through Saturday night.

I can move hay in freezing rain if I have to, but a blue-sky walk in the woods with Piper is a "seize the day" kind of thing.

~~~

p.s.
Thank you for all the nice comments on the 2018 Pictorial post - it was a tough choice to pick just 12 images from the 99 blogposts I wrote last year! For those who were interested in the fisher snapshots, here is a link to the "always learning" blog post from back in the Spring.

~~~~~

2018 pictorial

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

~~~~~

the last morning of 2018

On this morning of the final day of the year,

I'm doing a bit of thinking back and thinking ahead.

While I'm doing all this thinking, what task could be more appropriate

than cleaning the seeds saved from this year's gardens?

Do you have any special plans for this New Year's Eve?

Or, depending on your place in the world, New Year's Day?

~~~~~

being there

While I was doing a second round of chores today, snow began to fall. 

First, just a scattering of flakes.

 Then a bit more.

The goats moved between the barns and paddocks,

eating their hay, as bigger flakes began to fall.

 Beautiful flakes. Falling slowly. Falling densely.

I brushed melting snowflakes from the paddock chair

and sat to watch for a while.

It was that rare, lovely snowfall that looks the way

I imagine people who do not live in snowy climates think all snow looks -

almost unbelievably perfect.

 I exhausted one camera battery and switched to a second.

By the time that battery was nearly done,

my clothes were wet through with melted snow.

It was time to head inside.  

For all the snow that fell, what remained later in the day was not much more than a dusting. Just enough to make everything look very pretty. If I hadn't been out in it as it was falling, I could not have guessed the way it looked coming down.

Isn't it a gift to be there, eyes open, for beauty?

~~~~~