A winter hike at Nelson Ledges

Last weekend, my husband and I went for a walk in a nearby state park. It was wintry and snowy at Nelson Ledges, which so far has proved beautiful in any season.

 

There were ice crystals growing up from the ground under ledges of rock (click on any of the pictures to see them larger):

 

 

The crystals pushed the soil, pebbles, and leaves up with them as they grew:

 

 

Here's what looked like  a snowy toilet seat - just in case...:

 

 

Here's a little cave close to an icy waterfall, full of icicles:

 

 

And here is an icicle forming on a rock face that reminded me of either a hummingbird or a dolphin:

 

As long as I'm bundled up, I don't mind a wintry walk.

Hopefully the last snowstorm?

Another snowfall last night. Some of us are hoping (against hope?) that it was the last. I took some pictures while walking the dog.

It was a wet, heavy snow, just right for making snowpeople. Alas, my kids are old enough now that snowpeople aren't often on their to-do lists anymore.

Cross-country hijinks

I haven't posted for a while. Been busy with other things.

These pictures are from about a week ago. My husband and I dusted off the cross-country skis. I'm a little rusty - especially if there's a hill. But at least nobody can tell if I fell or not, right?:

I figure with a few more practices, I'll be ready for the Nordic Combined:

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you snow, go play!

A study in crystals

Get comfy and pull up a seat:


It was frosty as well as snowy this morning, so when I went out to replenish the bird feeder, I grabbed my camera to snap some frosty pictures. Click on any of the photos for a close-up view.

A crystal-encrusted tulip tree bud sleeping through the cold:

Thorns and frost:

I heard yesterday that all snowflakes are hexagons. Is that true for frost crystals too?:

It's a rare sunny day. Maybe I'll go out for a snowy adventure. Hope you're staying warm!

I found Narnia!

Aslan??

Oh. Wait... it's just my dog and the park next door.

But it FEELS like Narnia. Always winter...

Harbingers of winter

My daughter and I found this woolly bear caterpillar while collecting crabapples the other day:

I can never keep straight what the stripe means. The width of the stripe is supposed to predict how hard the winter will be, but I can't remember if a thick stripe means a harsh winter or a mild winter. And the thing is, I often see thick and thin striped caterpillars trying to predict the same forthcoming winter. I guess they're confused too.

And I saw this on the lolcats website:


I thought it was funny =^.".^=