After dealing with a dusting of snow on the pumpkin on November 7th, then the big snowfall (8.8 inches/22 cm) on November 11th, most people here in the Mitten State settled in for that extra-long and very-wicked Winter that was predicted way back in October. But, it turned out that the snow was whisked away within a week and we returned to a Fall-like feel for most of the time since then.
We have had snow showers or flurries in the forecast several times the past few days, but they never seemed to materialize – that’s okay with me. Ol’ Man Winter likely has a few blizzards and Polar Vortex events up his sleeve, so for now, it is good to just seize the day and get out and walk as much as I can.
We’ve had very few appearances of the sun and each day seems grayer than the last. It seems hard to believe, but our weather folks wowed us with the fact that the entire month of November passed by without a single ray of sunshine in SE Michigan!
So, when the clouds parted and the sun dared to show its face, it was cause for celebration. I know I was all giddy, snapping photos of the long shadows of me alongside my furry friend Parker. I’m going to feature Parker in an upcoming post where we engaged in some fun shadow play just for kicks.
My camera was busy clicking away throughout December and I spent a good part of New Year’s Day wading through all my December photos and separating them into various bite-sized posts, to be published throughout January. Unbelievably, I have also amassed a lot of photos from a few very long treks in the Summer and I have yet to even poke through them. I thought it would refreshing to have a few posts chock full of flowers, bees and butterflies in the dead of Winter. I am sure you’ll agree. In fact, 2019 was the first year that I did not always write a post with accompanying photos the same day I went on a long weekend walk; the exception was the four 5Ks I participated in during May and June.
As to this post, it memorializes a walk I took shortly after our Arctic Blast in mid-December. The Creek was still frozen over and it was quite nippy when I arrived. Harry had done his laborious and treacherous trek across the Creek the day before. With just the faintest glimmer of sun present, even though the bare branches on trees and bushes against a monochromatic sky made for a drab walk, I was still able to find a little beauty at my favorite nature nook.
It was a tranquil scene with the images of the trees reflecting on the ice and snow.
Ice covered the Creek and we had a very light dusting of snow that resembled icing sugar as it sprinkled across parts of the ice.
It sure looked desolate with no ducks frolicking in the water, nor geese gliding down the center of the Creek. All was very still.
It looked very desolate indeed.
Ice outlined the Creek banks, likely where the water lapped up and froze in place.
My blah trek was devoid of any bright colors, just a few teasels standing at attention like soldiers …
…and the milkweed pods that had gone to seed and looked like cotton batting that formerly filled up their now-frozen shells.
I walked along, my head swiveling from side to side as I looked for my furry and feathered pals, but they were reluctant to leave the comfort of their cozy nests until I was on my third lap around and the squirrels finally ventured out and came scurrying over to greet me, as if I’d just arrived. (Kids!!!)
From afar, and across this portion of the Creek, which surface was as smooth as glass, I saw Harry had perched in his favorite tree with those pale, gray-blue feathers standing out against the weathered and dead wood.
He stood like a bump on a log, glanced at me, then quickly turned his back, obviously not eager for a photo op since I had no fish or frogs to entice him to pose for me. I guess he was happy to be overseeing his kingdom and not fishing for the time being.
On my last lap around the perimeter path, Harry was hunkered down, his head barely discernible in those feathers and I guess he was sleeping. I strained to see if he slept with his head turned backwards and buried in his feathers, like most other waterfowl, but I couldn’t tell.
One thing’s for certain – he likely awoke from his nap with “bed head” like this painted rock I found that morning at the base of a memorial tree.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
We have snow on the ground this morning! Enjoyed your post and the photos.
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Wow – when we have better weather than you do, that’s scary! I think you don’t walk on Sunday mornings due to church, so snow is acceptable. Glad you enjoyed the pictures Anne – as desolate as it looks, there is always some beauty to be found there. I was the only person walking that day and I forgot to mention that.
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It all seems so washed out of its colours yet still beautiful…
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Yes Michael, that ice and snow with a gray background does give an almost ethereal look, especially on a misty morning.
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Linda,
i was waiting to arrive back in a severe snowstorm or high levels of snow but it seems like it is dryer than I expected- perhaps the weather is staying good because of the desert girl.
Loved Harry pictures- he is getting to be a new favourite(see how I spell the word). I have a feeling you are weaning us off from Parker and making us love your other named furry and feathered friends so we can distribute our oohs and aahs equally between them.
The Frozen Creek looks amazing. Glad anyway you are having warmer weather than you planned for.
Susie
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I hope you have continued good weather Susie … we have a bit of ugly weather out there right now. The snow came in a big burst around 4:00 p.m. and it is blustery and I can hear the wind blowing. It is a good evening to be inside and looking out!
I know the frozen Creek really does look amazing and it freezes pretty quickly since it is not that deep. The bare branches and gray background make it look a little forlorn doesn’t it?
I took a lot of photos in December and have split them up into batches rather than doing two or three long posts. I have three squirrel posts that I will make out of all the photos – I’ve already segregated the photos and have the stories still bubbling around in my brain. One is Parker only, the shadows and Parker came to the car to “see me off” one day. I had to ply him with peanuts away from the car, so I could drive away without him trying to go behind the wheels. So that’s one post and have another one which you will find very funny about the other squirrels and lest we forget, Squirrel Appreciation Day is this month. Heaven help us! So a trio which you will smile at I am sure.
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You definitely lucked out on the weather for December compared to us in WI. And, it’s snowing again this morning. I enjoyed your photos and your post. I agree with you, sharing some of the flowers and the bees and the fun sunny shots this winter is going to be a welcome view.
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Yes we did luck out after that freak November 11th 8.8 inch storm. Tonight we have snow which was a huge blast in the 4:00 o’clock hour and now it’s pretty blustery. I am glad you agree Shelley –
I never got time in the Summer to review the shots and/or compose a blog post for several outings. One was an entire afternoon at the Henry and Clara Ford Estate Gardens … there were acres of beautiful gardens with flowers everywhere, wildflowers and big gardens. It was at the height of the blooming season.
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We had that snow storm earlier in the morning. We only got about 1.5 inches though. So that’s good.
I look forward to seeing the flowers in February! FIF :-)!
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Linda:
You’ve launched yourself into the bleak zone of winter with your usual positive outlook. Thanks for cheering me up
Fred
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Glad to put a positive spin on our fitful Winter weather Fred. We had a big burst of snow earlier, around 4:00 p.m., and it whitened everything and now it is very blustery. They say this snow may disappear by tomorrow, but I am a little dubious.
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That DOES look like my morning hair! 🙂 Old Man Winter can just stay away as far as I’m concerned. We had high temperatures in the 50s yesterday, Linda, but today the wind is whipping and the temperatures are not supposed to get out of the low 40s. The “S-word” is in the forecast for Tuesday night, so yes, please show us photos of flowers and butterflies.
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Ha ha – I laughed when I saw this rock and Harry within moments of each other. Our weather WAS nice until this afternoon when we got this blast of snow and everything is white now and it’s quite blustery. It was predicted, and we lucked out compared to the northern ‘burbs, but it was like a snow globe for awhile. They say it will be gone tomorrow – I hope they are right because now it is a little insulting to have snow and cold after such nice weather and the same for you. This is not acceptable!
I’m glad you agree – flowers and butterflies can provide some cheer in Winter. First, I must showcase that muskrat – I have not forgotten Laurie!
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I’m so glad you’ve had a little break from winter!!
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Me too AJ – we had a burst of snow this afternoon – our area got whitened but the northern suburbs had 3+ inches. We lucked out. They say it will be gone by tomorrow.
This is my kind of weekend – wish it could last.
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It’s been much warmer here too this winter. We’ve only had frost a few times and no snow at all. But the rain has been falling which is needed. The frozen creek looks beautiful especially with Harry’s reflection. Keep warm and happy New Year, Linda! 🙂
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We have some snow tonight but it is supposed to be gone by tomorrow they say – I hope they are right. The sun was a welcome sight, and it did help to get Harry’s reflection on the glare ice. The Creek freezing schedule is odd because in some parts it freezes solid and the other side it often is not frozen at all or just a thin layer of ice – very unusual and I’ve noticed it every year. Thanks, I will do just that Sabine –
nice to see you back here again.
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It’s good to be back Linda! I did read your posts which come in my email and enjoyed every one of them. Stay warm! ☃️
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I remember you said that when I reached out to you by e-mail to say “Merry Christmas” – I appreciate that Sabine. We have an up-and-down weather week with the chance for snow next weekend, which is too bad as it’s been a great run of non-Winter-like weather.
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The weather’s been strange everywhere! I guess we’ll just have to put up with it! 😉
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You’re right Sabine – I am hoping they are wrong about the upcoming snow. It’s been a nice Winter except for the November 11th 8.8 blip. I read today that the Southern states are seeing more tornadic events in the Winter months than ever before due to climate change.
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We have snowflakes in the weather forecast for next week. Hopefully we’ll both be spared!
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Fingers crossed Sabine!
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It may be desolate but it’s still pretty! Poor Harry, he looks cold. Is he there all winter? It’s snowing here tonight, but I hope it’s only a few inches. Winter is here!
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Yes, it does look nice with that little glimmer of sun on the ice – makes it look pretty. Harry generally is here all Winter and he spends a lot of time in those two areas … either perched on the weather-beaten wood and the rest of the time tucked inside the tree branches. I think he feels safer there, though it was so cold no humans were there except me that day. Even the squirrels knew enough to wait til the sun was higher in the sky before venturing out. I don’t know how Harry gets his food … I’ve never seen him ice-fishing. We got that snow burst as well and they say it will be gone by tomorrow. You can wear your heavy coat now Joni!
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We have been taking advantage of the warm temperatures and especially the sunny days as well but while it is nice I am concerned about the effects it will have on the environment and crops. The winter wheat would benefit from snow cover as would our garlic. So I have mixed feelings about it all. I will be looking forward to summer pics in the middle of winter fore sure. 🙂
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The weather was enjoyable Ruth, but we still have leaves on many of the trees around here – that is so unnatural to happen. I follow a local photographer on Twitter who goes all of Michigan and photographs events and parks throughout the state and he posted a shot at Kensington Metropark in Milford, where the trees were completely covered in leaves. It was a misty morning and here were all these trees lined up with reddish/orange leaves. My ornamental tree has not lost its leaves yet and around Christmastime when it was so warm, there were buds on my neighbor’s magnolia bushes. Not good – I hope your garlic crop is not damaged by this weather. I’ve not looked outside yet to see if the snow that fell in the heavy burst at 4:00 p.m. has melted … we had some rain after that and hopefully it is not a sheet of ice out there.
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Wow, that looks cold! I guess I shouldn’t mention the 70 degree weather we are having here 🙂 Stay warm!
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Yes, it was right after the Arctic Blast we had a few days before – it was bitter cold. A few days later it was in the 50s – very bizarre weather to have a range of 40+ degrees in the span of a few days. I’m loving the clear and temperate weather, but we are getting 3-5 inches of snow this weekend unfortunately.
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Hi I am a first time visitor here and really enjoyed this post. I will be returning to enjoy your walks and photographs.
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Thank you Tazzie. Walking was one of the best things I ever did for myself as it has opened up new worlds for me. First the walking, then I started the blog in 2013 and since I always enjoyed taking pictures, (but that was years ago), I started taking pictures to go along with the walk. Both me and the blog have evolved over the years. Thanks again for your nice comment and also for following my blog.
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I look forward to reading your blog.
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Thank you Tazzie – hope you enjoyed yesterday’s fun post.
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Great winter photos, Linda!🥰
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Thanks Pam – I am glad you liked them. Winter can be beautiful, even at this time of the year, but of course, that is being gracious on my part since we’ve not seen all the snow we normally get … I think that will change by the weekend. I’ve got a lot of pictures from December since we had such nice weather, but I’ve not had time to get them posted and I am sorely behind in Reader as well. I don’t know where the time goes and this week will be brutal, the first whole work week in a while. Hoping to put a big dent in Reader tonight.
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I feel the same, Linda!
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You can’t get a break with this weather. I see you are going to get snow again!!! We have missed most everything North and East of us. We have had about an inch once and it was melted by the afternoon. Now I probably jinxed myself! hahaha Beautiful Blue Heron and milkweed pictures! I love the reflection on the ice.
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Thanks Diane – glad you liked the pictures. I am a sucker for reflection on the water or ice and it was nice to see, despite the cold. The heron stood out in the bleak background. We had that same inch of snow and at 4:00 p.m. Sunday it was snowing like crazy, and I looked out before bed and it had been raining and so had all melted. We’ve been lucky too – nothing to speak of since that Veterans Day snowstorm with 8.8 inches. The weatherman are giving a wide range for Sunday’s snow, as of now: 3-5 inches, another says 2-3 inches .. I’m hoping it is on the lighter side or better yet, non-existent. 🙂
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It’s so pretty! I’m glad you got one days blue sky… those days make me smile… they’re so precious!!!
💕🕯🌠
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Especially in Winter! We went the entire month of November without the sun showing up … that’s terrible!
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😦 Now that is really sad…
I hope the ice clears up soon….
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I do too – we had snow again this afternoon – now Winter has become a bit of a pain.
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I know… this is why you should tour spain when you retire…
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I actually spent three weeks in Spain in 1974. Friends of our family were going there for a six-week vacation, three weeks on the Coast and three weeks on a vacation with family and to see the sights. The woman was from Madrid and her husband had never been there so they asked me to come along. So I did and it was great as she spoke Spanish fluently so no language barrier. Her husband was German. That is where I have the castle pics to send to you and I also went to visit them when they lived in Puerto Rico for a year (he was setting up a tool-and-die start-up there) and I saw some castles (or maybe fortresses) there as well. Spain was very nice – I liked it.
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Cool! Would you ever visit them again?
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Well, unfortunately they retired and moved to Spain – the woman had a stroke about 15 years ago and was in a wheelchair after that and then she had a massive stroke about 8 years ago. She died from that stroke. I cared for her very much and when he called to tell me that she died, he said “now I can live my life and do what I want to do again, travel and visit friends” … Ellie, it was not something appropriate to say the day of your partner’s death … it was in bad taste (IMO anyway) and I told him so. He was taken aback and said nothing for a few minutes, then went right back into a story about going to Hawaii. I hung up on him.
they had my e-mail address – he wrote to say I didn’t understand – I said “don’t write me again” and I refused to take his calls.
I have caller I.D. – he no longer calls.
Perhaps it was small-minded of me, but I thought it was wrong. I doubt he would ever find this blog post so I will mention this then delete it – he never married her as she lost her husband in the Vietnam War – he wanted her to continue getting her widow’s benefits … they told the world they were married, but we knew differently. They lived together for thirty year. Was I wrong? You are younger than me, you might feel differently.
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I think you are right. He is right that you never can understand another until you live their life, but I think you are right. It sounds like he didn’t miss her at all…
(((((hugs)))))
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Oh, you did get the message – hopefully not multiple times as I kept getting a red pop-up message about failure and tried again so eventually wrote you at your e-mail address. Yes, it was wrong what he did to her and they went to Mexico for a vacation and had wedding pictures taken and returned wearing gold wedding bands and with the pictures and told everyone they had married. But she confided the truth to my mom and my mom told my father (who didn’t seem particularly concerned about it, but you recall what he did to my mom from my Mother’s Day post). But knowing what he did made me think less of him and after she died, he inherited the small apartment building she bought years ago when she was first widowed – it was a small building, four apartments on the Costa del Sol in Southern Spain. So it was hers technically and they retired to there – a beautiful touristy place, now his apartment … just irked me to no end and I decided I didn’t want to be bothered with him. (((((hugs)))))
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I’d be the same. Unless I cared a lot for him then maybe I’d understand where he was coming him. I feel like he was a but cheating her, and I’ll never know how on board with it she was or wasn’t.
Yeah, it came through – once.
You don’t need people like that in hour life. Although he may change. Apartments are cool to own coz gives you somewhere to stay. Where would you buy one if you could?
Love, light and glitter
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Wow – in real time tonight and it is late for you!! I will tell you that the little apartment they had was nice. Just a stone’s throw from the beach and a nice view as well. Warm weather (most of the time). I don’t know – I have never been to the New England states here in the U.S., but sometimes I think it would be fun to live in a bed and board as a permanent boarder. Some of those places in Cape Cod are very quaint in the fishing towns, but they get lots of snow come Winter.
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Some months there and other months elsewhere?
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Well once they left the U.S. when they retired, they moved right there and she still had family and they went back there to visit a few times a year (they lived in Madrid) … they liked to travel, but shortly after they retired and moved to the coast Alphonsa had her first stroke. It was not good as she had rheumatoid arthritis her entire life, so she was not in good shape after that, and had to opt for a wheelchair and he had to help her, then she had the fatal stroke after that. I am going to look for a picture of them to send to you and maybe in front of a castle. I spent a week with them in Puerto Rico in 1973 and we did some sightseeing, then the three weeks in Spain in 1974 when we also traveled together.
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Your pictures sound so lovely on a day with little colour in nature. I like how you capture the bed hair too😁 ❤❤
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