the white stuff

perhaps inspired by margie's beautiful frosty and snowy photos, we decided to search out a little winter of our own. up the mountain to the paradise meadows, where we headed out snowshoeing in an overcast day. a few good layers of snow have fallen up in the mountains, but the ski hill is not open yet so it was quiet and we were alone for our walk.



it didn't take long for a whiskey jack to come and say hello, and i marvelled at his aerial acrobatics for a moment before he moved on. he landed gracefully in a tree high above me, and then plummeted in a dive straight down so that i thought he would head right into the snow. at the last moment he pulled up and alighted on this little tree in front of me, posing for his portrait. later on i heard a raven croaking across the meadow, and saw little birds flitting above us and the telltale "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" of those little ones.



it felt good to escape up into the world of white, even if winter hasn't made it's way to us at sea level just yet. down here it is damp and chilly, rain making regular appearances and piles of leaves rotting back into the ground. it's not our most scenic time of year. but up in the hills it's clean and pure with the snow. a rough trail had been stamped through on top of the regular boardwalk that was hidden underneath, but the meadows around us were mostly untouched.



i found myself concentrating a bit on the stark scenes that are created by the snow, focusing on the shapes and simple vignettes rather than the bigger view around us. the lakes were frozen over and some of the creeks, but moving water could be heard and seen here and there, sinewy black shapes moving through the winter wonderland.





i'm kind of hoping for a white winter around here. how do you feel about the snow?