Winter Wonderland 3: This Time It's Personal

Guess what it did here overnight? Yeah, the subject line kind of gives it away. The good news is that it was an unbelievably picturesque snowfall—I could have closed my eyes and shot pictures at random and still gotten gorgeous results:









Kaylee was as interested in this fallen pine branch as I was, so I had to work fast to get the shot I wanted before she managed to dislodge the snow:



A bit of fungus that also caught my eye:



Later on in the morning I noticed a lot of blue jay activity around the feeder, and managed to snag a shot of this trio:



The downy woodpeckers were my target here, so capturing the departing titmouse was a nice bonus:



When I was refilling the feeders this morning (prior to taking those last two photos), a chickadee landed on the house-shaped one as I put seed in the other not a foot away—I'm not sure which of us was more startled. Afterward I decided to go back out with my camera and stand in the same spot, just to see if I could get lucky again. Naturally, it started precipitating again about 5 minutes later. I'm not sure how long I was out there either listening to the birds come close and then fly away or watching them land on the other side of the feeder (I could almost hear them saying "neener neener neener:), but eventually a couple became daring enough to alight where I could see them. This one was even obliging enough to stay for more than a half-second, giving me a chance to get some very nice shots:





The texture of the snow around my parents' place caught my eye when Kaylee and I were out at lunchtime. I have no idea what atmospheric and temperature conditions combined to produce it—all I know is I thought it was pretty interesting:



Finally, since I took this at 10 a.m. I consider it proof that it's hard work having to supervise me while I'm out taking pictures:

Winter Wonderland 2: Electric Boogaloo

So, it pretty much didn't stop snowing from early afternoon yesterday to early afternoon today. Which resulted in more than a foot of snow on the porch and even more where it drifted in the woods—there were spots where I'm certain I'd have sunk in to my mid-thigh if I didn't have snowshoes on.

Starting things off, a look at the birdfeeders when Kaylee and I first went out this morning—somehow I managed to catch a chickadee on its way in as well as the one on the top of the hook:



A shot of the woods:



I liked the effect here of the contrast between the snow and the branches:



This one... I can't even begin to explain. Just about every tree had at least an inch of snow stuck all along one side, as you can see with the others in the shot. Some had areas where a portion of the snow had been knocked off by the wind, birds, or other branches, but for the most part the snow looked like it'd been laid down with a caulk gun. But I don't have a clue as to how this straight sapling ended up with snow spiraling along its length—especially when it's not even touching the tree in one area:



A few shots where Kaylee assists in indicating how deep the snow was in the woods...



...on the porch...



...and where it'd been left by the snowplow after the driveway had been cleared:



The temperature rose in the afternoon, which resulted in the precipitation changing over to the classic "wintry mix" and the trees losing most of their snow cover. Naturally the trees got very wet, enabling me to get this nice bit of contrast between the leaves, snow, and darkened trunk:



Finally, two pics of Kaylee I couldn't choose between. I liked the mood of this one:



And the cuteness of snow-covered Kaylee in this one:

Second verse, same as the first

The weather people said we were supposed to see some sunshine today.

I'm saddened to have to report that they lied. They lied to us.

Instead it ended up being overcast, rainy, damp, and raw; seems like they did get it right when they mentioned we might be heading into the January thaw.

Unable to find any photographic inspiration at work today, I hopped in the car at lunchtime and drove around for a bit. I've discovered that one big obstacle to photography in this area during this time of year is it's pretty difficult to find a decent place to pull over for a few minutes. Or, at least, pull over and not worry about forcing traffic to go halfway into the other lane to get around you. But as I was driving down a road I must have taken dozens of times over the course of my life, I noticed a wooden fence and thought "that might be interesting to photograph." Better still, there was a long driveway leading up into the woods right next to the fence. Keeping my mental fingers crossed that none of the residents would need to use their drive in the next ten minutes, I parked, got out, and took these:







I'd say TGIF, but as it happens I'm working tomorrow. So my weekend hasn't quite started yet...