My Happy Place!

After a long, hard Winter of unrelenting cold,

too much work and too little time out of doors,

we hit the trail today.  I love how the soft early

morning sun makes everything look so pretty.

Someone has added some bottle gourds 

for birdhouses.

The white leaves catch the light so beautifully.

Why are they white?

The mosses and lichens are a brilliant 

green, they seem to glow against the

brown of the fallen leaves.

I love the dappled sunlight as it comes through

the still barren trees.

The river is very high due to the April

downpours showers.

We got to catch up with old friends.

And Mr. Cardinal serenaded us from

the treetops.

Trail Time

 

The heat is on!  We have had a very

hot week here in the American Midwest.

 

 

We have been trying to get on the trail

early in the day to beat the heat but

since it is Saturday we lingered a bit

longer in bed today and didn't get on

the trail until 8:30 am ~ a big mistake!

It was too hot!

 

 

I wonder who lives there?

 

 

I was complaining yesterday because I was

so hot I didn't want to carry my camera and

of course we saw Great Blue Herons and the

largest turtle I have every seen in our river...

So, today I brought the camera and no herons

or turtles, but lots of canoes and kayaks on the

river.

 

 

In Summer our woods can look like

a jungle.

 

 

I guess we made it home just in time,

a big thunder storm is rolling through.

I hope the canoes and kayaks get off

the river...

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving the Nest

 

It has been a long, cold winter here in the

American Midwest.  I have been cocooned

in my studio, hibernating from the blahs of

winter...  In two months from today we will be

 hiking up to castles along the Rhine, walking

 through the tulip fields in the Netherlands

and strolling along the cobblestones in Paris.

 

And I need to get ready.

I set today as the day I would start my training

for our European journey, I thought, it will be

March, certainly the weather will have improved.

Haha.

I was wrong, it was grey and cold and snowing.

 

Not a great day to leave the warm nest of my

home and venture out to the woods.

But I did it anyway and feel better for doing so.

 

At least, I am fairly certain that by the time I

leave for my European adventure it will be

Spring ~ and it can't come a moment too soon

as far as I am concerned.

 

A Walk in the Woods

It was 56 degrees F here yesterday in the

 American Midwest.  This is our Winter and

it should be freezing but we were given a

 hint of Spring ~ and it was wonderful!

Even in the dead of Winter there are

interesting things to see in nature.  I

love the vivid green of the moss and

the fungus on this fallen tree.

Look closely at this photo and you will

see the deer on the far right and far left.

I love that they never run away from me,

I talk to them and they stay very calm.

I like to think that they know I am as much

a part of these woods as they are.

There is still ice on part of the trail

that is blocked from the sun.

I enjoy the solitude of this time of year,

when it's just me and the trail.  This

beautiful weather has been a treat, but

alas, it is Indiana, and we will be having

snow in a few days...