Winter Impressions: Ice in the Scotia Barrens

We've had rapidly changing conditions in the weather lately, and there is lots to see in the woods. We had ice, and then some melt, and a lot of rain. And then it got cold again, and froze back up. And so all the water standing in the woods turned into icy little puddles and lakes, and every path turned treacherous once again.

It had just started to snow on Saturday morning when I grabbed my things and headed out on my walk, over to the Scotia Barrens. I was like a kid in a candy store. There was ice in various states of freezing here, there, and everywhere. In each place I looked: sparkle and shine!

So down I went, onto my knees, taking pictures, which is sort of my version of praying, but colder. And this was one of the shots I came back with. I was totally in my element, and under my pink umbrella (which the increasing wind eventually turned inside out), the snow didn't bother me at all!

Let's let the soundtrack song be the one I was actually listening to as I took some of my pictures: Passenger, with Let Her Go. You may recall the Puppy Love Super Bowl commercial that made it famous, and tugged at all of our heart-strings!

Well, you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go




P.S. Here's another death-in-the-country story for ya. The neighbor kitty, LGK, came by in the afternoon, and indulged in one of his favorite activities, which is to say, stalking rodents in the grass. Well, guess what. The little fella actually CAUGHT one on this day, and my husband hollered, "LGK CAUGHT A RAT!!! COME OUT AND SEE!!!" And so I trundled out with my camera, and there was LGK, tossing the poor thing (a mouse or some kind of mole or vole) around and carrying it in his mouth and letting it go and then pouncing on it. I instantly tried to take it from him, to rescue it. (Hey, so what if the creature MAY have been one of my salvia eaters? After all, what's a few bites of fancy expensive salvia among friends? So I was ready to issue a pardon.) But my husband said it was too late already, and the cat wasn't sharing. Then, abruptly, LGK made a sound that was a cross between a yip and a yowl, as we think he got bitten by the rodent, which he was carrying in his mouth. Suddenly, enough was enough! LGK quickly BIT the rodent's head off, and ate every bite of it. So yeah, I took pictures of that grisly episode too, but nobody's ever gonna see them. (You're welcome.) Afterwards, the cat sat looking quite pleased with himself, but my husband said, "I'm not gonna touch him" (as the cat had eaten THE WHOLE THING and we feared he might hork back up some of the indigestible parts), and we were both sorta grossed out by the whole experience. File that away under:Yuck!