Nature's Neutrals

The morning began with dense fog, but soon the sun rose and burned it away, leaving the trees draped in white frozen mist.

The sun continued to strengthen enough that the skies became blue and long shadows of tree trunks darkened stripes of bright white snow.

Charlie found our trail in great shape after last week's ice storm and subsequent inch of snow from the other day.

It was pure bliss to walk free of the fear of falling on ice now that we had something substantial to grip into. Although the light "crust" of ice/snow on the top layer made me keep watch for blood in Charlie's footprints in case her paw pads got too roughed up from cracking through repeatedly.

We enjoyed a good hour of soaking up sun and getting our heart rates up as we kept a fast pace on the empty trail.

But soon, the skies grew cloudy and a brisk cold wind picked up from across the lake. I slowed down to put my hood up and play fetch with Charlie for a bit as we took a break to re-hydrate and have a snack.

I marveled at the change in scenery from bright crisp snow and defined shadow-lines only an hour ago to the now muted neutrals of nature's grays and blues. Even though the snow was still bright, I was able to remove my sunglasses and enjoy an unfiltered view for the remainder of our walk.

The aerators have been turned on in the reservoir to improve oxygen levels in the water for the fish but causing parts of the frozen lake to thin and thaw. This area is now roped off from ice fisherman and snowmobilers for safety, but we were able to get a good view from shore. The noise from the pump house was loud and ugly though, so we trudged on quickly to get away and back to the quiet woods.

Charlie was finally tired out as we drove home for the day. A treat of frozen oxtails picked up from the local meat market thawed out on the backseat while we were out... something for her to look forward to when we get home.

Hopefully with this ice storm behind us and sidewalks melting, we can get back to our much-needed evening walks during the week. Charlie has "invented" another issue recently... she's now chasing and barking at cars driving by the one-way street that lies along our house. She watches from her window seat in the living room and jumps down barking through the apartment to the kitchen window in the back of the house until they pass about another block up, and then she settles down again. Not every car, either. Just some cars. Ugh. It's another one of those "border collie" things... her brain is bored from inactivity so she's making up a job to do... protecting our neighborhood from cars. At least today she got tired out and hopefully we can *cure* her of this invented bad habit before it gets worse.

Ahh... the challenges of a super-smart dog.