While there are no yellow flowers in the winter time, there are other things besides the sun that are yellow and orange which pop out from the white snow, even if they might be old and rusty.
Yellow and Orange
Picture of the Day for March 2, 2013
The sun came out today and while the ground is still white, at least the sun brightens what color there is and it is nice to see blue sky again. But that did mean a nippy night as there was no clouds to hold the heat in but that is the price you have to pay for a clear sky in the winter.
Red Cow Barn
Picture of the Day for February 28, 2013
I’m trying to imagine blossoms on this tree since there are hints of white as a friend of mine has been telling me of her almond blossoms and how pretty they smell right now but it’s not working because all I smell is cold and I feel the cold too.
It might be a fun tree to climb in the summer but one would get a chilly butt climbing it now.
(I will be taking a mini vacation so I won’t be posting any pictures on February 29, 30 or the 31st.)
Chilly Tree
Picture of the Day for February 27, 2013
I haven’t enjoyed the cloudy days as I rather see some sun but clouds do create some colorful sunsets.
Winter Sunset
Picture of the Day for February 23, 2013
This Hereford cow looks as thrilled about the new snow as I am, especially since I just came in from shoveling snow again.
Hereford in the Snow
Picture of the Day for February 19, 2013
It appears that Paul Bunyan hasn’t straighten out this river like he had done with the crooked river that was causing log jams for the loggers. Besides straightening rivers, the mythic folk hero Paul was also responsible for creating the 10,000 Lakes of Minnesota when Paul and his blue Ox Babe left footprints when they wandered blindly in a deep blizzard. The Great Lakes were also formed by Paul to have a watering hole big enough for Babe to drink from.
When Paul Bunyan dragged his axe behind him one day, he created the Grand Canyon and when Babe and Paul were roughhousing and shoving each other around, they created the Grand Tetons. And when Paul needed to get clean afterwards, he made a shower but forgot to turn it off when he finished and it is still running as Yellowstone Falls.
From the five storks that took to deliver Paul to the Mississippi River running backwards when Babe took a big swallow, the mythic legend and stories live on. What is mythic or a mystery to me is how a river doesn’t freeze over in below zero temperatures like last night when the river doesn’t appear to be flowing very fast. But then maybe Paul is upstream washing his feet as they could be hot from his wool socks and lumberjack boots.
Crooked Creek
Picture of the Day for February 17, 2013
The red barn might look pretty against the white snow, but to me, it would look prettier with green grass and leaves on the leaves as I had my quota of winter this year.
Looking for Green & Red
Picture of the Day for February 15, 2013
I don’t think these Mourning Doves like the new snow either as now their perches in the trees are snow covered again.
Mourning Doves is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds with population estimated at 350 million. They are the most frequently hunted species in North America with more 20 million shot each year. But I only shoot the doves with my camera and not with a gun. But since the Mourning Doves feed on the ground, approximately 1 in 20 will ingest lead shot in the heavily hunted areas and lead poisoning is another threat to the doves.
The nesting pair will have one to six broods a year with normally two eggs in each brood. Mourning Doves eat almost exclusively seeds, but the young are fed crop milk by their parents which is a secretion from the lining of the crop (enlargement of the esophagus) of parent birds that is regurgitated to young birds. It resembles and smells like cottage cheese.
Its plaintive woo-OO-oo-oo-oo call gives the bird its name and the wings can make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 55 mph.
Primarily a bird of open country, scattered trees, and woodland edges, the Mourning Dove can survive in the desert as they can drink brackish water that is almost half the salinity of sea water without becoming dehydrated the way humans would.
The Mourning Dove was named Wisconsin’s symbol of peace in 1971.
Chilly Doves
Picture of the Day for February 13, 2013
On February 13, 2000, the last original “Peanuts” comic strip appeared in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz died. The comic strip, written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, but re-runs continue on.
And while this acorn isn’t a ‘peanut’, it is a nut that squirrels like but this acorn might need some digging out from the ice and then the squirrel might only find the acorn cap (or cupule) and no nut!
Frozen Acorn
Picture of the Day for February 12, 2013
Next Monday is President’s Day celebrating the birthday of George Washington but there is no national holiday for Abraham Lincoln who was born February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. His father Thomas, owned two 600-acre farms, several town lots, livestock, and horses. However, in 1816, Thomas lost all of his land in court cases because of faulty property titles. The family moved north across the Ohio River made a new start in what was then Perry County but is now Spencer County, Indiana.
Besides Abraham Lincoln, several actors were born on February 12, and some of them played in western movies like Wallace Ford who played in the movie ‘The Man From Laramie’, Joe Don Baker who played in the ‘Guns of the Magnificent Seven’, Clifford Tobin DeYoung who played in ‘Centennial’ and ‘Glory’, and Forrest Tucker who played in many movies like ‘Chisum’.
A Canadian actor, Lyon Himan Green, better known by the stage name Lorne Greene was also born on February 12 in 1915. Lorne Green made Ben Cartwright come alive on the TV series Bonanza from 1959 to 1973 with his faithful horse Buck.
And while this horse is not a buckskin like Buck, I think he is saying happy birthday to everyone and secretly wishing someone would take him south for the winter as you can see his frosty breath on his chest.
Red & White
