Under The Snow....

Snow??  What Snow??   We had no snow this year.  I could have told you it was going to be a snow-less winter back in August.  Why?  Because we inherited a big, new snow blower from my in-law's!  Same thing happened a few years back when my husband put new snow tires on his car....nuthin'!!   Now if I can only get him to buy a new snow removal tool every year....!  It would be cheaper than having the driveway plowed once a week!  Hey, I may be on to something here...

We are having unseasonably warm temperatures up here in New England.  This past weekend I decided it was time to work on my New Year's Resolution - to exercise more.  (Only took me two months...)  With a veritable heat wave of 49, I grabbed my husband and said "Husband, we are going walking.".  The look he shot me was something akin to "I'd rather clean the toilet."  But he was a good sport and we bundled up to walk "The Path".  http://thefocusondesign.blogspot.com/2011/07/path-less-traveled.html  (See my post from July).

The path looks totally different in the winter.  What was totally lush and green (and oh so buggy) in the summer, was now spare and stark and brown.  BUT, as we started walking, we took note of the different patterns and color (yes, color!) winter has to offer.

Marshland with dormant grasses (Photography by R. Palazola)

 

(Photography by R.Palazola)

The blue sky was reflected in the marshwater.  A nice contrast with the neutral tans and browns of the dormant grass.  The thin tree trunks poking up added their own pattern to the landscape.

(Photography by R. Palazola)

 Look at this beautiful apple green color of the flora just below the water's surface!  Looks like some chemical boiling, but it was only the camera angle!

A Moss Covered "Something or Other"!  (Photography by R. Palazola)

 

More apple green!  Looks like a moldy fur coat!  Not sure what this was because it was too far away, but the color caught my eye!







                                                  And on we trekked.....through fields......

My husband - "Wilderness Man"

                                                                  .....down trails.........

"The Path"

                                                             ....until we came upon.......

Ugh!!!

GARBAGE?????  Really people????  It takes a lot more effort to dump your junk in the middle of nowhere, than it does to bring it to the local transfer station.  Yuk, yuk and more yuk!!!  We also saw a rusted dishwasher and a broken window pane.  Some humans can really use a beating...especially the dog walker on my block who leaves the dog's little hot pink bags of crap all down the street.  DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING US A FAVOR BECAUSE IT'S BAGGED IN A PRETTY COLOR????  PICK UP YOUR GARBAGE!!!!!

Sorry for the rant....I have no tolerance for careless people who ruin our gift of nature.

So back to the hike...

(Photography by R. Palazola)

         This pretty shingle-like growth on a tree adds an interesting pattern.  I'll have to Google it to see what it is.  Where is my brother - "Mr Nature Noggin" when you need him???  He can identify any flora, fauna or fungus and then tell you the best wines to serve with them!                                     

(Photography by R. Palazola)

Rusty floors of pine needles and pine cones.

(Photography by R. Palazola)

The only red berry left in the forest!

"Beaver Damage" - (Photography by R. Palazola)

Most of the marshy areas around here are caused by beaver damage. Besides toppling perfectly good trees,  when building their damns, they divert water to areas which were not supposed to be wet.  Trees and foliage cannot survive being submerged, so they die, leaving an area of grey, lifeless limbs.  If this keeps up, my backyard will soon be waterfront property!  But they do create some interesting "sculptures"!

(Photography by R. Palazola)

While winter doesn't have the freshness of spring, the lushness and warmth of summer, or the blaze of color of autumn, it does have its own unique beauty and form.  And the best part about winter...?  Spring is just around the corner!!

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show. "  Andrew Wyeth