A Walk and A Brain Dump

1.  Yes, our cold, clear sunshine has left us.  And though I miss it, there are compensations.  We must have had an air inversion, holding in the cold weather and fog.  Not a breath of wind for days and days.   I didn't realize how stale everything was feeling until last night.  I've been reading in bed (it's warm!) and the wind picked up outside, bringing air in the window so fresh it smelled sweet.  The rain and breeze quite literally cleared the air.

You can see the haze, below.

2.  The gorgeous weather held on just long enough to get out for a walk with a bloggy friend :D 

Crystal brought her three boys into town to get some fresh air and doughnuts with my crew.

I have to confess how quickly I forget what it's like to have littler kids, and I charted a course that was a bit on the longish side for short legs, but they were good sports and we had a fun afternoon :D

It helped that there were fun things to discover, like the bottom side of several trees that have blown over in storms...

... including one that obviously served some neighborhood kids as a fort.

Some of the ponds had begun to freeze and the boys had fun testing the ice... you can see all six in this photo, if you really look.

The frost clung to everything.

But the biggest draw was the ducks.  Some other folks had brought some kind of grain for them, and had drawn a flock of about 50-60.

By their constant movement the ducks had kept part of the pond open....

... but it was much more fun watching them maneuver on the ice - especially when they came in for a landing.  If a duck can be surprised, these seemed to be as they skidded around!

3.  Oh the excitement of these January days...  /sarcasm.   Do you ever feel like the highlights of your life... aren't very high?  Or am I the only one?  If someone were to make a This Is Your Life it would have breathtaking moments like
*  clean the shower
*  get a bale of pine shavings for the bunnies
*  fold the laundry, and
*  don't forget to turn in the library books.

Yah.


4.  I did remember that today is Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day, which was fortunate, as they had nearly everything 25% off, and I found the black and white stripe I'd been searching for!  Perfect for bindings :D 


5.  Gunnar and I are (mostly) meeting our walking goals.  We had a longer-than-usual walk on Monday, so he asked for Tuesday off, but then we ended up getting plenty of exercise Tuesday evening, skating and sliding on our friends' pond!  I was a little leery, as the ice on our local ponds didn't seem very thick, but their pond is actually a flooded field - quite safe.  Even if the ice had broken, the water wasn't deep.  We had a bonfire, and hot cocoa, and two hours of slipping and sliding around the pond in the moonlight!


6.  Must get to bed early tonight, as I'm needed at 5:30 AM tomorrow.  Must get my parents to their shuttle, to get them to their plane, to get them to their cruise.  They're off for a week in the Caribbean on the S. S. Smorgasbord, or something like that.  I might be jealous if they didn't so abundantly deserve it!

And that's the news from my house.