I'll take it

Boots. Wet from hiking in the creek with the neighbor lady and her children.

I had a pretty full day that started with a Partner WOD. [work out of the day] My partner was amazing and IS an amazing lady. Mom of 5 who works two jobs and has a husband who is going to school. The more we visit at CrossFit, the more I am impressed!

So the boots were drying on the porch. Walking IN the creek was the obvious way to stay cool yesterday. My hike had started out strictly in the woods looking for fungi and ended up in the creek with my neighbor and her kids.

Allie takes a rest. She got stuck in that Mule Soul Sucking Mud spot that Siera refused to get near the other day. One thing about mucky mud. It keeps the bugs from biting you.

The rocking chair came from a church bizarre along with the lady's scarves. I absolutely adore rocking chairs. LOVE them. This one is small and perfect for me. The scarves served as adornment to the 'crate' table I have on the porch. I have no idea why I chose those scarves. Colors? Backdrops for still life photos? Don't know. They just said 'Take me!'.

Part of my hike yesterday was to find interesting spots of sunlight and try some Infrared shots.

My favorite one so far is the stump. I won't even say how hard of a trek it was to get here, but it was worth it.

Evening found Charlie and I on the porch where we watched the sky for colors as the sun began to go down.
We were rewarded.

This is the view from the driveway looking across to the west.

This morning I woke up at 4:11. Yes I checked it twice. I got up anyway and decided to take a very early walk.
The gnats were nasty but the scenery was worth the walk.

Mother Nature decided to paint the sky briefly just before 5am.

I'll take it.
The rest of the day still awaits....

There is no Bad Weather, Only Bad Clothing...

Norwegian Saying....
"Det finnes ikke darlig vaer, bare darlige klaer."

It says "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing."

It is also meant to be said by me with a smile on my face. I will hike in rain, sleet, snow and an occasional ice storm. I dislike hot and humid sticky days. But I do love the outdoors and winter often offers some incredible scenery.

This was two weeks ago on a mild day. The temps were below freezing but still it wasn't bone chillin' cold.

The Kenosha Gang and I bundled up and went back this weekend.

The river had mostly frozen over. Coyotes had tracked along the edges, but the ice was not thick enough to cross over.

There is something to be said about dressing for the weather. Cold wicked weather can become enjoyable.

What can I say? We found our hike out of the wind and along the Kickapoo River in the valley rather decent. Sure, if you sat still and didn't do anything, you ... would get cold.
We of course packed all sorts of emergency supplies and planned our outing so that we'd never be more than a 15 minute rapid walk back to the vehicle.
The actual air temperature was somewhere between -2 to 1 degree F.

Photo Credit: Daryl Clausen ~~ This is a photo of me pulling my mask down to get some 'fresher' air.

New Years Eve morning we decided to head down to on of our favorite places to see the sunrise.
It is along what the locals call Blackbottom Creek.

The median air temperature for the area was supposed to be -5 degree F, however ... it felt much colder.

I took some photos but should have brought my mitten/gloves instead of just gloves. Pulling my gloves off was not a good idea.
However my friend Daryl had worn his waterproof Mudruckers and stood in the stream.
Nope.
I am not quite that crazy. My hands were cold so I got a few photos and then proceeded to walk around to warm up.
The geese.

The tree and the stream.

That afternoon we took a short jaunt along Awesome Creek.

Even the cold creek bottom provided entertainment and laughter.

And a good time was had.
Had no one dressed properly for the weather, it would have been a very unpleasant experience.

I have to chuckle. Today it got up above zero. I felt like spring had arrived!