If you know me, you know I love to take walks. I like to walk in the good weather and the bad. When we were little kids, we would dash outside barefoot, in shorts, and with an umbrella to walk up and down the country lane to enjoy the elements.
Where we recently moved isn't normally associated with regular snow, but we got a real treat for the Christmas time- Snow! It snowed off and on all day, interspersed with drizzle and freezing rain. Feeling like a kid again, I pulled on my rain shoes (no bare feet anymore!), my warm jacket, got my umbrella and my camera. I had a lovely walk, and I experienced so many moments that I would not have in my memory if I had stayed on the warm couch or drove my truck around.
The first sign that the snow might stick for awhile was the view of the rooftops from the second story window.
All the fireplugs here in town are painted an old-fashion red with a lucky silver top. They shone so brilliantly against the snow-dimmed earth colors and the gray sky, I had to smile and admire them.
Before I had gone a few steps down the sidewalk, up popped this green shrub with glowing red berries that seemed to melt the snowflakes with their fiery light.
I had to bend down for a closer look.
This fence along the sidewalk moved my eyes down the road like a series of flashing arrows.
By now, you may be noticing the little color theme in my pictures, RED! I didn't realize it until I reviewed them, but every shot has some item of red, a cherry glow of color in the wintery landscape.
I strode confidently along the icy walk with the help of my walking stick to save me from any slips. Approaching the side entrance to the mall, I heard the unmistakeable Eeeee Eeeee Eeeeee (think really high-pitched) of the cedar waxwing. I looked up into the sumac tree that was part of the landscaping and saw the little beauties, their pretty tail borders flashing yellow as they cutely ate the little berries. I also admired the fat robins sharing the tree with them.
I may have been more compelled to take a snow picture of my own truck if it were red like this one!
I kept walking, and decided to cross over the freeway on the pedestrian side of the bridge. I became aware of a man walking towards me, going the other direction. I like to meet people in the eye as I pass them, at least briefly, unless I perceive they might be annoyed at that. This fellow had a wide, white-toothed smile. He looked like he was about 65 or 70, thin and hatted. I smiled also, as we closed the gap. In spite of spectacles, his pale blue eyes stared ahead brilliantly. I thought they were looking at me, but then I wasn't sure as he passed by and they still stared at a spot over my shoulder. His skin was pale, chapped, with a white bristly chin. But the smile! It stayed fixed in place, wide and frozen. I decided that either he was a happy happy person, or it was his natural grimace against the cold wind.
If it hadn't been drizzling at the moment, I would have taken another picture up on the bridge approach. I already think that manzanita is a pretty tree-lett, with its twisty mahogany bark and gray-green evergreen leaves, but this wet trunk was gorgeous! The red trunk was a deep maroon brown with black crevasses where the bark had had an old injury. I had to stop and admire the depth of the color and take a picture in my brain.
Gray, white, black with shots of red! It always caught my eye.
Back at my place, I went outside on the patio, scooped up a handful of snow and put it in a Ziplock sandwich baggie and into the freezer. I guess I felt like I just needed something else to last of the day besides my pictures and the memory.
