Christmas Time in the City

We are on the home stretch of our bathroom remodel, but one important element was missing: a sink. And since today happened to be the day that Paul was traveling back from college, a trip to the city was in order. Shortly after arriving, we got the word that he, too, was almost in town, so we made arrangements to meet at a central parking lot.

It wasn't long before he and his gear arrived, and we got everything settled in to the car. Then we were off to the home-improvement store, to find the sink and all of the other last minute little parts that were still needed. It took two trips into stores of this nature, but we managed to find everything. Paul wisely chose to stay in the car. It was packed so full that if he had gotten out, stuff would have spilled into his spot, and he wouldn't have made it back in.

Interestingly, for the time of year that it is, nothing of our purchases was holiday related. For that matter, it doesn't look very festive here at the lodge yet. We've been so focused on getting the project done that we barely glance at a calendar. And suddenly, we realize that it is a week until Christmas, and maybe we should be stringing up some lights and garland. There's some celebrating to do!

So the week ahead will be a busy one, but fun, too. It's amazing that a whole 'nother year is nearly over.

I made a discovery today along the way. The city has pink sunsets in December, too.Very pretty, but not quite like at home.

Winter Birch

On the days that the clouds move in and the sun remains hidden, it seems to be a monochromatic world out there. The evergreens look more black than green. Shades of gray abound. It gives me a bit of an idea of what it must feel like to be colorblind. But if this current color scheme means snow is in the air, I'm okay with that. We did get a few flurries today, though they were very sparse. Still, each flake adds up. I was again helping Greg, and he had me pulling nails from some boards. As I did, I could see little snowflakes on the wood. One had all six points and actually looked three-dimensional. Amazing little delights.

It's been a little over a month now that we have had decent measurable snow. In looking through my photos, I came across a couple that were taken on November 14th. It was our first big snowfall, and though we tried, the roads were not in decent condition for us to make it in to church. We came home, and decided that a walk in the woods was in order. So we headed up the Loon Lake Road, and then took the Border Route Trail spur that led back to the South Rim Trail. Since it had been cleared in October, we knew that it would be in good shape.

The hiking required close attention to our feet, but it still didn't stop us from taking in the beautiful scenery around us. The trees were heavily laden, thanks to the wet snow. As we went along, we noticed several birch trees that still had many little twigs and branches on them. This was noteworthy because, ever since the blowdown, we have seen a huge decline in the numbers of healthy birch trees. One school of thought is that the lack of shade (from all those trees that went down) caused the ground to receive more sunshine. That in turn warmed the soil more than the birch were accustomed to, and thus, they were tending to die off. To see healthy ones in this patch of woods was certainly good news.

One in particular caught our eyes. Greg identified it as a yellow birch. Most of what we have here are white, or paper birch. The yellow birch seem to grow larger, and the bark on them is much rougher. The one that we found most fascinating had twisted bark. It rather reminded me of a cedar tree.
I think that I will have to make a trek back up to that trail in the spring, so that I can see how this tree is doing in a new season. It will definitely be easy to spot.

Ice Fog

The view out the window this morning included ice fog when we first got up. The majority of the landscape was totally white.....No sky, no horizon, just white. I hadn't seen fog since sometime in October. It has a surreal quality when it is not its usual gray color. About an hour later, it had mainly dissipated, leaving behind a bank in the far north sky. In its place, the sun came out to highlight the frost on the trees.

The camera that I use is just a regular Sony point and shoot digital. Sometimes I wish for something fancier, so that I could capture the way the sun twinkles through those icy crystals that adorn each branch. It really is true that snow and ice can sparkle, but it is next to impossible to record that in a photograph. Still, I tried, by taking photos of two of my favorite trees.

I think of this aspen as the raven tree, since it is one that the raven pair will often sit in throughout the summer. It was also the home to the flicker family earlier this summer.

And a beautiful white pine....no words needed.

Glimpses of Ice

After two nights of sub-zero temperatures, I felt pretty safe walking on the ice right in front of our property this morning. It is such a neat feeling to be on that super hard, super cold surface that just a week ago was so wild and wet. Ice walking is one of my favorite winter past times. Today there was no wind, lots of sunshine, and miles of clear ice--with just a wee bit of frost on it for traction. Unfortunately, there was no time to be out strolling, as the list of tasks remains long. I did, however, grab a few moments with my camera to see what I could find.

At first glance, the lake looks completely white, with many interesting shadows crossing it. Because the winter sun travels so low in the sky, the trees cast some very tall shadows from shore. When I pause to look more closely at the ice, there is a miniature world of art at my feet. The frost crystals have grown to make up that solid white color I see, and each little shard helps to complete a bouquet of feathery images. It's pretty amazing that these tiny pieces can collectively give the impression that the lake is covered in snow.

I used my boot to push aside the frost, hoping that I might get an idea of how thick the ice has grown. All I could see was black, which is a good sign. That indicates solid strong ice. Without the dimension of a crack or two, it was not possible for me to guess at the depth. It was a lovely picture just the same.

Near to shore, I saw this white ice with its own little clusters of crystals. So many of the photos I've taken this month have a natural blue hue to them. I liked that this one was mostly whites, in varying shades. So many surprises out there, waiting for my eyes to see them.