January is Done...

January wrap.
The first of the year was mild and not very wet. I was able to get into the furthest valley in our area and hike along Black Bottom Creek.

Mid month we got walloped by two huge snowstorms. Next came the cold temperatures and wind chills. These are all normal events for January in a sense. But the winter has been warmer than usual due to La Nina.

For the past two weeks it seems that we've had nothing but fog, rain, dampness, and more fog. At first I was pretty excited about the fog. I could walk in it and enjoy the ethereal beauty of it. 

After a few days though, that wore off. 

Then we had a dense fog freeze advisory. I spent an hour walking around looking for frosted plants and leaves.

If I'd had my MapMyWalk App on, it would have shown me going back and forth and around in circles. I wanted to find some exciting and beautiful frost formations on plants.

The key word was 'exciting'. I didn't really find anything spectacular.

I went back out right away after hubby was up and had his breakfast. I wanted to take Charlie for a walk while the snow was still firm and he could walk on top of it.

I grabbed my snowshoes and off we went on a jaunt to the creek. The deeper we got into the forest, there was less frost.

By the time we got to the creek, I had to take off my snowshoes and carry them. Since the creek has so many little springs in it, the temperatures can be much warmer near the water. The difference is startling. You walk in mud and green grass as opposed to a foot of snow. 

I set my little camera on a log and took a photo of Charlie and I walking along the creek.

Our trekking area.
This is the spot where I always stop to admire the little trout. Since the last flood that cleaned out the creek bottom, trees have been falling down across the creek and through out the area.

Our walk becomes a bit more adventurous by having to negotiate around fallen trees and nasty multiflora rose.

The only times I can easily walk through this area is early spring, winter, and late fall. In the summer, it is impossible. The weeds and plants grow so high here that they are taller than I am.

When cattle grazed on this land, it was easy to get around. But the cattle have been gone since 2005 and the land is not managed very well. So it has a lot of invasive plants and it has gotten very wild.

Once we got out of the creek, I had to put the snowshoes back on. We followed the old deer/cattle/4wheeler trail which is growing in now too.

We climbed the hillside and went out to the meadow just east of our property and headed back home. Charlie was such a champ. The only time he asked to get picked up was when we heard a big boom far off.

We came up through the back of our land and walked through the area where the mules had dug up snow and had browsed during the the snowstorm.

This photo shows the back of our shed and the long hill driveway. The mules really dug things up, I was surprised at how much the snow had melted in this particular spot.

However!

The sun came out late in the afternoon to provide us with a stunning sunset.

I was pretty excited since we haven't had an evening with a beautiful sunset in ages:

Let's see what February brings!

I love Winter

 

Someone told me I was lying to myself when I said I loved winter the most. Chuckle Chuckle.

I love every season of course. Winter always provides me with so much to see. 

Granted. In the spring and fall, I can walk the woods and not be so bothered by insects. Summer brings its own delights which include much longer days and some un-delights of heat and humidity.

I love flowers which only bloom in my garden from Spring to Fall. But Winter provides me with time on my hands to explore the shapes of trees. Time to watch ice falls develop on a rock and moss sandstone wall.

I am afforded the ability to admire the frost that develops on the rocks in a large spring.

I can hike through the valley and bask in warm sunshine in one spot and be in chilled in the shadows and cold breezes in another.

I can be amazed over and over by an old oak tree's shape against the snow or how it casts shadows over the stream.

I can see how the natural order of things progress. I can find deer beds, coyote dens, 'possum trails, and raccoon tracks. I see how nature cleans up after a death. Who strips those bones clean like that? Not coyotes. But the Titmouse, the Bluejay, and Woodpeckers! 

Death in the valley provides a little something for everyone except the unfortunate whitetail perhaps.

The mice will find important minerals in this buck's antlers that will help them. They find calcium, phosphorous, and minerals that may be lacking in their diet in the antlers of some deer and their bones.

This huge spring provides warm water for scuds and caddisfly larvae to survive cold spells.

The spring comes out of the hillside.

It joins the creek as it flows down hill.

View looking towards the south.

No matter how cold it gets, I've never seen this spring freeze over. The water is about 45 F all year. During a very deep freeze, all the moss covered rocks get covered in a beautiful frost.

The first signs of spring arrive here on near this spring. Skunk Cabbage!

Winter provides me with more challenges to find interesting photographs. There is the snow to deal with which throws off the camera meter. There is the cold to deal with. The cold will drain batteries swiftly. Moving cameras from cold to warm can damage them if precautions aren't taken. 
Dressing appropriately can also be an issue. After years of trial and error, I am coming to a happy medium.

This hike last week involved a small backpack with a thermos of hot chocolate, hand warmer packets, fresh mittens in case mine got wet, my pistol, and camera batteries in my inner pockets. 

The thermometer hanging off my camera strap read -9 F at the spring.

My feet got cold while I explored the Big Spring. But I knew that a hard and fast walk with my snowshoes on would warm my feet up.

Eventually I made it to our ridge trail and headed up out of the valley.

That is my shadow and if you look closely, you might even see the shadow of a Teddy Bear face in my backpack.

Silly, I know, but Bear doesn't mind the cold.

By the time I got home, I was damp with sweat. 

And that

is 

some of the

reasons

I like  love winter.

Hunting shadows and

light...

Winter solitude-
in a world of one color
the sound of wind
~Basho

I've been on a black and white stark patterns 'kick' lately.

I recently read an article where one pro photographer said one needed to practice just one genre of photography to get very good at it. 
I agree with him.

Then I read another article that said Do What Inspires You. Okay!

Cold.

Snow.

Winter.

Stark.

White.

I've been inspired by shadows and light play.

And I was inspired by the incredible snow and clear blue skies. 

Trees that huddle in

 the hollow of a soybean field.

The Sumac that stands 

against the western winds.

Here is the tree line that still hides parts of a barbed

wire fence that once separated two farms.

There is pleasure in knowing where to walk to see these favorite places of mine on the ridge. In the other seasons none of these trees make such an amazing statement.

Yet in winter, they are must see spots for me.

I can't help myself.

I love how the winds whisper 

cold air past me 

and it makes snow designs

under my feet...

I feel

free...

~~~