Out of the House

The sun decided to come out and play yesterday morning. I resisted the (strong) temptation to pull the covers over my head and snuggle deeper into my pillow, and got up. I threw on some sweats and my newly-completed Jayne Cobb hat, grabbed the camera, and ran out the door for a short field trip down the road.

It was colder than it looked outside. We do have a thermometer outside, but on days like this, I try not to look. I'm native to Southern California; thirty-two degrees to us is really cold. If I'd seen the thermometer, I probably would have gone back to bed and snuggled with the dogs.

As it is, I'm glad I got out of the house.

My fingers were getting stiff with cold, as I'd forgotten my gloves. I saw the glittering of frost on the little wooden bridge that would take me to the trails, so I stepped carefully. I could see my breath and unsuccessfully tried to blow some smoke rings.

A few hardy souls were out already, walking their dogs or jogging. I admired their ambition, since my only purpose was a short ramble to take some pictures. I could hear the honking of the geese and the quacking of mallards as they started their day.

I ran across this little goose as I stopped at a bench to change lenses. I'm pretty sure he's a hybrid (although I suppose he could be a juvenile. I'm not that great at identifying birds.), which are sterile geese. Interesting how Nature takes care of her breeding program.

This pic was taken in my backyard. I love how the frost makes the little diamonds on the rose leaf. I'm letting my roses go right now so they'll form hips. Come February or March, I'll give them a good pruning.

That's my field trip for today. I think it's funny that my buddy SpookyBlue said in his post yesterday that artists need to get out once in awhile. He was probably writing that as I was hauling my lazy butt out of bed. I guess great minds do think alike.

Source