Happy December 1st

Don't mind me if I am all over the place today---> well yesterday.... a day late and a dollar short!!!!

That is how my brain sometimes works.

This is a table with a drawer that was given to us. I think originally it would have had a washbasin on it as the sides have places to hang little towels on. It finally made sense when I pulled out this pitcher and basin and decorated it.

Next up. My weeds!
Velvet Weeds, Grasses, birch branches that have fallen, and Milkweed Pods. The ornament is one of a kind and was made for me years ago. The weeds are temporarily in a copper coal scuttle I purchased at my MIL's estate sale. The Jay Potato chip can...does anyone recall these? I do!

It holds Charlie's dog food. My brother used his antique can just like this for his cat food. Great minds and all that!

This morning I realize that I hadn't been hiking in my favorite place since....November 13th. For me, that is an eternity.

I cancelled my morning gym plans and headed out the door at 8:30. The Wilds were calling. My feet needed to go go go....

I needed to Wander and Explore.

So...
I did.

...with my little Trail Blazer in the lead...

we headed out to parts unknown and places

were no human trails exist....

It was still in the 20 degree range when we hit the trails. Frost was on most of the plants. 

The Kickapoo River had ice forming on it.

As Charlie and I stood watching the river, we saw a Kingfisher diving into the water. It was too far away for me to 'shoot' with my cellphone so we just watched. My old camera was in my backpack and the battery for it was in my pants pocket [staying warm and charged].

Charlie and I got to the bluffs and walked out on the edge [carefully--it was safe!]. We heard the squeaks of an Eagle above us and Charlie dove to get under my feet. I've always made him come to me when we hear Hawks or Eagle calls.

The eagle was in a pine above and to the slight left ... but out of sight in the above photo. We could just barely see him standing in the top of one of the dead branches. What a majestic creature.

I pulled Charlie into my lap and sat with my back against a pine. We watched for a long time. Charlie shook and leaned against me hard. Eventually the Eagle flapped and took off. The sound of its wings was really cool to hear. I've never been that close to an Eagle before.

To young folks seeing an Eagle is no big deal. To me, it is a huge deal. In the 1970's the Eagle had only about 400 breeding pairs in the United States??? Yeah. It IS a huge BIG deal for me to see one while casually hiking.

We moved on and did some more exploring and wandering. 

We scrambled down the bluff and walked along the base. These pines are so incredible. Look at their wild root systems! The roots grow UP and along the bluff wall.

Isn't Mother Nature something cool?

Charlie was nervous when I stopped to exam some rock formations. 

I didn't get any good shots of the multitude of Lichen on these rocks, but I was fascinated with the intricate formations that nearly looked as if they had been carved by the Ansasazi. Well, IF they were super miniature!

I'd mentioned to someone that I was going to go search to see if I could find some 'ice' formations on the rocks. They said I'd never find them. 

Huh. 

👇

We headed back out on the paved trail to see if one of the ponds had ice on it yet.

The little pond did. The ice even had Ice Stars on it.

A light north west wind picked up and I headed back towards the car. 

We stopped at Campsite E and decided to sit out of the wind for a bit and munch on some pretzels.

Selfie:

December was starting off just fine in our book.