Tracking is cool

Reading the marks in the snow, I couldn't necessarily say which prints told me, but I felt the deer and the coyote running inside me. My heart pounded as I felt the stalk of the dogs and the surprise of the deer. The flight. Galloping bodies in tight bunched forms and long taught sillouhettes. Short chase. Hungry kill. Yote tracks lead me into, around and back out of the woods in a graceful dance through life and death. Hemlocks bearing witness to the hunger of the deer and the yote.










Deer or coyote?
How many?

PS - you can always make the picture bigger

Sparkles

And a chickadee.

Dawn

Fuzzy Eyesight

I'm not sure how or why I took this picture - it's kind of hard to take such an out of focus shot with a digi. But I looked at it and was interested to note that it's almost exactly what my parent's dining room looks like without my glasses on. I'm practicing living without my glasses; it seems like a contrivance that might be covering some other gift I was given; not to be discovered til I ditch then lenses. I like the option though - thankful, yes, for modern amenities.

Changing colors

Here's what happens when the temperature drops below 32 degrees. Beautiful crazy white stuff falls out of the sky and takes away all the color; the worlds become a magic queendom forest elf-land; the light turns pink and teal and changes everything to match it. Little prisms reflect the moon from all directions. Owls call and birds greet the dawn with whistling love.

November Pallate

The late November pallate; dramatic sun, browning fields, red ozure and golden rod stalks in rich hues.

Another Winter Tradition

Going off the road.

There's also a tradition of strangers helping out; in this case not so much strangers as new acquaintences. I went straight off the driveway in my little honda, and couldn't get back on. Eventually, my four new friends picked her up and put her on the road!

Sledding

One of the great joys of winter in Vermont is definitely whizzing down hills on pieces of plastic. We went out for Nick's brithday to a sledding hill in Plainfield with an awesome view of the cold mountains, tucked up against Spruce mountain and looking out to Camel's Hump. The wind whipped up and it was probably 20 below zero. I made a quick trip to Rainbow Sweets in Marshfield for reinforcements: chocolate (real) cherry cake, walnut caramel torte, almond merengue tortlettes and something like a Sainte Anne-Siere, a towering fluffy mass of flakey biscuit, whipped cream and pastry puff balls dipped in crystalized caramel and filled with creme patesserie... We sledded til the sun went down, and rocked the hill!