The house wren didn’t wait until the first day of winter (according to the calendar) to head south to a warmer climate. They even left before autumn came and with the cold spell that is coming, I bet a lot of the other birds will wish they had headed south too.
Abandoned for the Winter
When the dandelions lose their yellow smiles, the field may turn white as the seeds start floating away but I rather see the dandelion seeds flying in the air than the snowflakes that fell this afternoon.
Dandelion Now White
The sun was finally shining today, but the hoarfrost had already melted the previous day so it only shone on the snow and definitely not shining on green grass covered in yellow dandelions.
Green and Yellow
The morning brought another layer of hoarfrost and once again, no sun to make it pop out but instead the pine blends in with the rest of the gray landscape or looks like Christmas trees flocked with white. But at least the frost means the temperatures weren’t frigid like it will be later this week.
Pine Flocked
The foggy morning decorated the trees and other things with hoarfrost making pine trees appear white and stripping even more color from the landscape. I like to see the hoarfrost in sunshine and blue skies to see the crystals sparkle and stand out before they melt. But many times like today, it stayed cloudy and when the wind picked up, it looked like it was snowing as the frost fell.
Decorated in Hoarfrost
Another coating of snow was added to the ground overnight covering any trace of green grass. I always thought red barns looked better against the snow than white barns but I prefer red barn displayed with the summer greenery instead.
Red and White
Shoveling snow every morning may be a pain in the butt, but running into stick-tights, burdock, and other burs can be a pain in the finger as I always seem to get them stuck in my fingers when trying to get them off my clothing. And with their little hooks, they do ‘stick’ very well.
Sticking Burs
It was another gray day with light snow falling throughout the day. I rather have a gray day in the summer when it is not raining so I can take a hike through rock formations but I wouldn’t like to try this hike on a day like today if the trail is icy and snow covered.
Walking Through Old Lava Flows
During the snowfall this morning, two squirrels were playing in the snow like two little kids as they chased each other across the lawn making the snow fly even more. At times the chase game found them winding up and down trees before they found their way back to the bird feeder or hiding in the tree.
Squirrel Up a Tree
The snow was sparkling this morning with the sunlight reflecting off the snow crystals. But sunshine in winter generally means cold temperatures and it was this morning starting out at two degrees, although it wasn’t as cold as it was when I had hiked out to the ice caves several years ago to see sunlight sparkling off thicker ice pieces.
Sunlight Reflecting on Ice
