I looked out my back window at
10:29 a.m. CST this morning and saw a dramatic play of low winter sun pouring through the Oak trees, over the hill, and into the white landscape of the back garden. (Believe it or not, this is a color photo, but my landscape is very black and white these days.)
Confession: I still had my robe and slippers on, which prevented my running outside to take this shot—so this is through the window. I took this picture with my camera phone. These are excuses, but honestly if I would have taken the time to go grab the better camera and get dressed, the shot would have been gone. At
10:31 a.m., I took a second shot and the light wasn’t nearly as dramatic. Just a little realization that we have to grab the moments while we have them.
Later in the day, I decided to break out the snowshoes and look for signs of life. There aren’t many of the plant variety. But with our recent “mild” December weather, the animals are a little more active than they were a couple weeks ago. I saw a squirrel scampering across the lot yesterday. And animal prints crisscross the white landscape and meander among the trees and branches.
The current top layer of snow is the white powdery variety, so the prints aren’t as distinct as they would be in heavier snow. But it’s fun to guess which animals created these prints.
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| Rabbit |
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| Any ideas? |
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| Various birds |
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| Raccoon? |
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| Deer? |
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| Messy human |
Garden blogging is a healthy activity. It’s getting me out into the fresh air and it’s fueling my creative muse. What to write about next?
It's wonderful that you have so much wildlife in your garden! The only footprints in our snow would be dog, dog, dog, dog, and dog! Grat blog! :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks, TS. In midsummer the backlot is teaming with sights and sounds from the animal kingdom. You'd never know it from the front -- looks like a typical suburban garden. Lots of dogs walk by; I should have captured their prints, too! I hope to have a dog soon, myself. Glad to meet you through Blotanical!
ReplyDeleteI can almost hear the snow crunch in your animal print photos. Also, the shot out your window is pretty even if it was indoors on a camera phone!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eliza. I see you had a white Christmas this year, too!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see paw prints in the snow. Happy New Year 2011!
ReplyDeleteNow that's REAL snow! And you are so right about needing to seize the moment. Love the footprint detective work.
ReplyDeleteReally love your foot/pawprint photos. I always think they look so beautiful in the snow. Carolyn
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to find tracks in the snow. I always like to think about where they were going.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is good for making a person more aware of their surroundings. It's a pretty there in your b&w landscape and I agree, it seems like you have an abundance of wildlife. Hope you're staying warm and maybe dreaming of spring???
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, all!
ReplyDeleteKathleen: Definitely dreaming about spring. Visiting everyone's blogs is making the winter more fun! Cheers!