Snowy Woods

The winter woods are quiet and hushed and beautiful.

Path to Blue Skies

The sky was bigger than land and cast an eerie shadow as the blue fought the dark.

The dark won.

Deceptively Frosty

A frosty frozen backwater reflects the naked branches of winter's end. But things are coming alive in the waters under the ice as the food for all from dragonflies to frogs awakes from its winter's slumber.

Bellflower Closeup

From the archives: this picture was taken through a magnifying glass. The flower itself is tiny and my camera was limited so I improvised.  

Trudging through the Snow

This deer was following instead of fleeing down the path. It doesn't look malnourished. Maybe, like all of us around this time of year, it's looking for some spring.

Over the Long Haul

This path winds up to the top of the dune on the horizon. Right over that ridge is Lake Michigan, 22,400 square miles of earth's surface made of fresh water.

Icy Paradise

Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting Heaven

That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice,

And thereupon imagination and heart were driven

So wild that every casual thought of that and this

Vanished, and left but memories, that should be out of season

With the hot blood of youth, of love crossed long ago;

And I took all the blame out of all sense and reason,

Until I cried and trembled and rocked to and fro,

Riddled with light. Ah! when the ghost begins to quicken,

Confusion of the death-bed over, is it sent

Out naked on the roads, as the books say, and stricken

By the injustice of the skies for punishment?

Yeats---The Cold Heaven

Sand, Sea, Sky, Ice

Ice continues to build on the shores of Lake Michigan. The sand is solid in most places along the shore. Not so in the Dunes, however, which the sands are busy moving one scant grain at a time in blustery winter days.

Misty Threesome

Three trees seem to stand alone but the truth of the scene---more beauty than can be imagined is hidden by the mist.

Saturday Warm Up

It's frigid out of doors and too cold to get an inspiring picture even though I tried. So today from the archives here's a bonus insect picture. Wishing for summer days on this middle February day. Have a nice weekend!

Deer

One of many deer that scattered as I walked up, this one was intent on eating the forest understory and didn't go too far. The deer knows I'm still there but probably can't see me. Deer don't have great eye sight and have trouble seeing anything that isn't moving.

Lonely Longing

The Lover of my youth called the other day,

We talked of a young boy, a young girl, 

Of dreams, of places, of two cats in the yard,

The longing was in his voice.

There were our failures laid out in front of us,

Things we could have done---should have done,

But didn't. 

There were successes and goals reached;

happiness and the color of the skies

And the longing was in his voice. 

And as I hung up the phone, 

I found that the longing that I had heard,

was not for that young girl

 or for the old woman that she had become.

No---the longing that I heard was for that young boy.   

Frostful

Where the forest path widens out to the meadow there was a sudden stretch of white. On closer inspection the white was tiny shards of frost. Isn't it amazing how something so small can repaint the whole landscape?

Spring is in the air today---the blue birds were a whirl as they performed their mating dance.

Clean Water

Water percolating through a wetland can clean all kinds of the contaminates that we create. Unfortunately, we often fill in the wetlands when selecting new land to build on. At Coffee Creek the wetland was built and the community is being built around it. An added plus is that the wetland remains a greenway for wildlife, and provides a spot for fishing.    

February Shore

A lot of sand, a bit of ice, and misty air; the shore of Lake Michigan can be a placid place this time of year.

Winter's Dusk Blue Bird

See that bitty touch of blue on the right side of the picture? The blue birds were coming in at dusk flashing the colors of a summer sky that can't come soon enough for man or beast.

Mid Winter's Eve

The darkness meets the day early on the Indiana landscape in the winter. One day this week it was as if the daylight was fighting for its right to remain---shoving the dark away.

Lonely Shores

A LONELY lake, a lonely shore,

A lone pine leaning on the moon;

All night the water-beating wings

Of a solitary loon.

With mournful wail from dusk to dawn

He gibbered at the taunting stars,

A hermit-soul gone raving mad,

And beating at his bars.

Lew Sarett--- The Loon

Sea of Sand

This is the view from the top of one of many mountains of sand running along the shores of Lake Michigan at the Indiana Dunes. The Dunes are a sea of moving sand. In the foreground are a couple of trees that are being left behind as the dune moves on.  

Lacy Lichen

Looking like lacy clumps of snow this lichen is lined up on a tree branch. It was irresistible not to touch---it doesn't feel as fuzzy as it looks. Some lichen can cause dermatitis for some people---so beware.    

Frozen in Time

The spots of white out in the lake are waves frozen in time---they didn't quite make it into shore. Out on the horizon there is also a line of ice waiting for a warm day to visit the shore.

Happy Ground Hog Day

This is a Hoosier ground hog up in a tree, caught chomping about 6 feet off the ground, not the sleepless Pennsylvania sort.

Of course, any self respecting ground hog would not be out on a day like today. They're all in their holes slumbering with sweet dreams of summer days.

Affection or an Itch?

This pic from the archives has always left me wondering---is this love or just an urgent need to scratch?