One down, eleven to go

Wow. Once this entry is posted, I'll have successfully gotten through the first month of my self-imposed challenge. As there were days I seriously doubted whether or not I'd be able to say that on the 31st, I'm pretty psyched to have made it this far.

Today's posting is my biggest yet. I'd like to say it was a conscious decision on my part in order to commemorate the occasion, but in truth it's because I took a bunch of pictures I was really pleased with and didn't feel like having to choose between them.

This morning the temperature was -2.4 when I got ready to take Kaylee out. Deciding I couldn't wimp out two days in a row, I settled for the compromise of taking Kaylee over to the small stream that cuts through the woods rather than doing the usual loop. Given the sights that greeted me, I'm extremely glad I did so—the rising sun + running water + freezing temperature = gorgeous photo ops:













When Kaylee began to wander up the mountain as we headed for home and was pretending not to hear me whistle and call "Come Kaylee!", I chose a tactic I knew was virtually guaranteed to get her by my side: I yelled "You want to go for a ride?" As I'd hoped, she nearly broke the land speed record getting over to me. When I stopped a moment to try and photograph the stuff frozen on her chin whiskers, she informed me in no uncertain terms that there was to be a lot less photography and a lot more walking on my part:



Kaylee then proceeded to spend the rest of the trip back sprinting ahead of me for a bit, and then sprinting back to make sure I was still moving at a fast enough pace for her. When we got to the house, I realized that all of her running back and forth in the cold air—and, more importantly, through her own exhalations—had resulted in a coating of frost on her neck and chest:



After we'd picked up the newspapers and donuts downtown, I couldn't resist pulling into a parking lot so I could go take these photos of a frosted-over tree by the river, right where it drops off next to the old mill:





I'm happy to report that I did make it home before the donuts froze solid, although I did let them warm up a bit before digging in.

My deepest thanks to everyone who's been visiting and commenting on this blog. I very much appreciate all of your support and encouragement, and it makes me happy to know other folks have been enjoying this project as well. Thank you.