Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Squelchy Walk

A cold, windy afternoon as I set out to walk the snowmobile-less trails today. Most of the snow has melted off - even the inch or two we got just the other day - leaving the ground mostly bare and the trails squelchy and damp. It's been a very up-and-down winter.

The geese have been back for at least a couple of weeks now, which is a sure sign that spring is on its way. All they require is open water - and here's some showing on the marsh around the corner. Winter is definitely losing its grip.


Somehow this milkweed pod has managed to hold on to its seeds (you can see the floss blowing in the strong wind).


Just a few drifts of snow edge the buff-coloured fields. (Hello, favourite tree. I haven't seen you for weeks.)


Across the field, in the little thicket, small clumps of moss have appeared on the track...


...but there are still plenty of tiny dried flowers to look at.


A lichen-trimmed tree trunk rises from a carpet of leaves.


The afternoon is so golden, it might almost be fall.


A gnarled old tree is dreaming of spring...


...while the ground below is covered with last year's empty nutshells.


The sky is high and blue today, with scattered clouds scudding by on a fast wind.


Shell-like fungus adorn the shady side of an oak.


This tree's branches are covered with rosy, berry-like clusters...


...just waiting to burst into leaf.


I took my walk as late as possible today, hoping to catch the sunset on my way home. And here it is:




The wind has quieted, and the air smells of clean, damp earth. It's good to be back.

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12 comments:

  1. Ooo! Love that next to the last shot of the sunset! Too beautiful! You have such a nice place to walk and you always seem to have it all to yourself! What kind of nut tree was that, anyway? I know it wasn't a Peanut, but well, I have to ask. :)

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  2. Looks so peaceful and beautiful. Does walking with you count as a walk for me too? LOL

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  3. It's like taking a walk with a friend in a familiar place, and yet there you are all those miles away somewhere I have never been! Thank you for taking us with you Sue :D

    I hope I'm right in thinking those are a couple of Project :: Sky 365 pics at the end there ... I'm hopelessly behind with mine, still waiting for the new card reader for the camera, hopefully it will come today.

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  4. Wow, lovely sunsets.

    Makes me wonder about your geese....I am blonde in every way I guess, but our Canada geese, now gone, will they be over with you now? If I have in some way got this right, then I am blown away thinking about it in reality.......maybe next year I'll tie a note for you and send one back in your direction......mind if it's just they're called Canada Geese and in fact they've just gone to another pond in Wales somewhere, then you may be waiting for a long time....

    Lovely walk thanks, and as mentioned above, I wonder if going pictorially with you burns any calories?

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  5. Sue, is that your favourite tree against the sunset? When I look at your pictures it almost seems as if you have captured every season in one walk. I am happy for you spring is edging closer. I can only imagine how relieved you must be feeling.

    Warm wishes from France.

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  6. Love that lichen-trimmed tree trunk, the best. The best of many best!

    It would be wonderful if we lived near each other. Then your younger stamina, might influence me to get out in the cold and do some walking too. Might........ I'm just an old wimp. I'll have to wait for not so cold weather. -Harrrumph-

    "May night had fallen soft and warm, enwrapping with its grape-bloom colour and its scents
    the billion caprices, intrigues, passions, longings, and regrets of men and women."


    ~The Forsyte Saga Quotes

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  7. Another very enjoyable walk, thank you. Were those shells of Hickory nuts? I adore the picture of the milkweed floss and seeds.

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    1. Thanks for the tree ID, Toffeeapple! I couldn't identify it myself - I only knew it wasn't an oak or a walnut tree. I just Googled hickory nuts (and hickory buds) and yes, those were hickory nuts in the photo.

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  8. You're from California, how in the world have you gotten use to winter in Wisconsin? It's all I can do to deal with winter in Georgia, my childhood in California thinned my blood too much.

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  9. Beautiful!! I love the sunset pictures...so peaceful. It must be exciting to see the cold and snow retreat as Spring pushes forth!! I'm so glad you share these pictures so I can see it happen!! :)

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  10. You got your timing perfectly for that beautiful sunset. Juliex

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  11. Welcome back! It's good to see you out and about again. Signs of spring do abound in your neck of the woods, and it's so uplifting!

    I noticed some of our trees are beginning to try to bud again, but our ground is still white...

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