Did I jinx myself?

A couple of days ago when I finally could get on the internet, I posted some photos of geese basking on a mud flat in a nearby bend in the river.  It was about 15 degrees C that day.

This morning at 7, I looked out my front door to this! -4 and wet blobs of snow.

And it continued to come down, wet and heavy and chilly, but not as cold as the full day of rain yesterday.

I looked out the window as the day grew brighter, still snowing, and the boughs of trees bending low.

Really low.

And then the sun came out around noon and the valley gleamed with a new white blanket covering everything, including the north side of tree trunks and all branches. We'd been without hydro for several hours since seven, and the sunlight on the snow seemed like "Lights - Camera - Action!" Brilliant and shiny.

Later in the afternoon the dogs and I went to our favourite little piece of wood lot where the owner lets us roam at any time of the year. It was like walking into the forest in the Chronicles of Narnia...everything was still covered in snow, the branches of huge trees coated with about three inches of white and the small trees which had been wet when the snow blew through, bending low. It was a lacy fairyland of glitter with black trunks lined on their north sides with white. The sun shone through the branches in many open spots, but the snow was so thick in some places - even 80 feet in the air on twining branches - that it shaded everything below. Blue sky peeped through small openings and all was still.

Except for a lone crow, who hated its rest being disrupted by the sound of big paws and my rubber boots and let me know it loudly, it was quiet, peaceful. The snow that drifted off the trees, crystalline bits floating gently down, landed silently. It was magical. Beautiful and magical.

What a treat!

Here's hoping you get some treats soon too.

A walk in the woods

This is an old maple, near the beech, that similarly has been open grown, and is now falling down. Do you remember the saying "You can't see the forest for the trees?" Some days I can't see the trees for the forest - but when I look around it's simply amazing at what nature has given us.Add caption

This old beech exists in the small bush lot where I walk my dogs nearly every day. It belongs to a friend. I was inspired to look at the older trees by another blog - in which the fellow had taken pictures of a fallen giant - an enormous tree that must have been several hundred years old.

This tree is what would be called by many an open grown tree and is probably about 300 years old - existing on the edge of a farmer's field as part of the hedge row. There are a few other trees of similar size with short trunks. This magnificent old beech is about 10 to 12 feet high before the many branches spread out and it has a huge crown that must be at least 40 feet in diameter.

The dogs enjoy the walks and wait patiently while I take photographs, or just look at the various plants and trees and enjoy the quiet or the bird calls. Occasionally we've run across wild turkeys, porcupines, deer tracks, coyote scat, chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, ravens and raccoons. All a delight - except perhaps the porcupines who have three times now reminded the dogs they are not to be messed with.

Spirit looks for porcupines and squirrels up the tree

Bliss waits on the path to continue
our walk,
wondering what Spirit is watching