Have you ever...

Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods?
And everything feels just as it should
You're a part of life there
You're part of something good
If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods
If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods.

Have you ever stared into a starry sky?
Lying on your back you're asking why
What's the purpose I wonder who I am
If you've ever stared into a starry sky
Have you ever stared into a starry sky.

Have you ever been out walking in the snow?
Tried to get back where you were before
You always end up not knowing where to go
If you've been out walking in the snow
If you'd ever been out walking you would know.

~Brandi Carlile

So I was listening to Pandora and this song came on. I had to pause it and look up the lyrics. It was that stunning and spoke to me. 

Yesterday was a wandering day. I just slid on the snowshoes and started out. I had absolutely nothing in mind but just to go and observe. To see what would catch my eye.

Ice Crystals

Sunburst Lichen
I think...

I have no idea...

.....but it is

crazy cool...

Robins eating

Buckthorn berries
and spreading the seeds

in poop.

The ice wall

I took off the snowshoes and meandered down the creek. I had no idea what I was looking for or what I wanted to do.

Grumpy Dragon to his 

brother the Forest Dragon:

Hey, I thought you said

Spring was on the Way!

Cool Clear

Water

Moss along the 

rock wall.

Have you ever been out walking in the snow?
Tried to get back where you were before
You always end up not knowing where to go
If you've been out walking in the snow
If you'd ever been out walking you would know.

That was me. 

Some Trees and Stuff

I don't know enough about trees. I bought a guide book but still, I sorely lack the expertise in identifying trees. I can ID the simple ones.
Birch
Oak
Maple
Pine
Box Elder
and the much disliked tree
the Buckthorn.
I am currently working on trying to figure out how to kill some of them off without nasty sprays. Chopping them makes them branch out. I am wondering if 'girding' them will work.

I do however adore the not much loved Hawthorne Tree:

I adore the shape of the leaves and the flowers that appear in spring.

The color and shape are very pretty. The thorns? Probably not so much.

I like the wild apple trees that grow in the Meadow next to us.

In the fall I do pick as many apples as I can and make juice, jelly, and dehydrate them in slices covered with cinnamon and sugar. They make a great treat while hiking in the winter.

In the spring I do like to go around and take photos of the trees when they 'flower'. After that, I lose interest in them again until fall when they show me their colors again.

Each year I am encouraged and try to wander around to figure out what the trees are by their bark, or their shape. However in a thick forest, ... the shapes get lost.
And then I get caught up by more interesting things.

Like rocks.
Or Fungi.
Or picking berries.

I don't seem as if I can ever stick with it.

Perhaps this year I can do better.