Winter Days

I had such a nice Christmas, but took no photos, so I can't show you what we did over the holiday.  Instead, I'll show you some local views that made me happy.

I just liked the colors in this shot

rock face

different every step of the way

ice build-up on the river

the build-up gets kind of frothy and weird looking, eh?

winter colors

looking eastward

look up there!

winter light

A definite case of "whatizzit"

Eeek!  Proof that Aliens are Among Us!

Men are Cool!

I see mankind's and men-folk's ingenuity and strength to be a thing of wonder.  Here are some examples of cool stuff and doin's.

I thought this crane and trailer were nifty

pretty red!

our forests, as citizens

We brought Larry back to take down the leaning pine tree.  He's already stripped a lot of branches off.

Sara watches with interest

Dick and Jeffery lean on another cool thing as they watch Larry at work

ha! they spotted me photographing them

Larry takes off and drops the tree-top on a rope, so he can lower it slowly

Larry dropping the tree-top

cutting lengths and tossing down the rounds

The finishing cut

Done for now.  After a break we'll clear away the branches while Larry saws the trunk and pieces into manageable lengths, which we will haul to a place of storage.

The first of two loads of branches

We still have two loads of rounds to haul away

Man invents the wheel. (smile)

Hiking on a Winter's Day

A few days ago, Jeffery and I hiked up the Tobin Trail.  Jeffery clipped bushes away from the path and I walked slowly ahead, looking at the sights and taking a photos.  Here are a few.

we hit snow at about 2300 ft. elevation

the sun does melt some of the snow, even up high

the Ponderosa that gives the name to Ponderosa Knoll.  This is my tree-hugging tree.

I took this shot to show the trail Brenda and I have hiked on, so I could state where we'd gotten to along it.  We think we've gotten up to the section to the left near the shadowy snow, switch-backing up that "shoulder" several times.

winter light

Jeffery repaired a slid-out section of trail

we love this rock, and think it needs to be named

here I am next to it to give you an idea of its size

Yesterday, Sara joined Brenda and me for our Monday hike up the Chambers Creek Trail.  Made it all the way to the bridge over the Creek, which was pretty in the ice and snow.  Sara was a stronger hiker than me!

The water-fall that comes down above the bridge over Chambers Creek

heading home after Brenda ran (yes, ran!) back for the scarf I'd dropped back up the trail.

another shot of Sara and Brenda wending home

The Big Freeze Is Almost Over

Went to Twain and on the way home, took a couple of frozen river photos.  I was thinking of Jessie Nekut while I did this.  These were mostly taken in the Serpentine section of the canyon.  In some places during the winter, the sun never actually touches there.  Down here in the "banana belt" of Tobin, the snow is all but gone, and the temps are up in the 50's.

I really like this one.

The kayakers have a name for this run

The Serpentine

the end of my snowman

Oldie but Goodie

Jeffery discovered a very fine treasure in one of his Grand-dad's boxes of stuff.  We think the box was packed and stored back around 1940, but we could be wrong. (It has been known to happen)  Anyway, this fabulous Christmas tree light bulb is conceivably 73 years old.  Jeffery remembers seeing his Grandma's huge tree lit with strings of these bulbs when he was a lad. He also remembers that they weren't kept on for very long; probably due to how hot they got.
The COOLEST part is that the light bulb still works!
Here, let me show you!

Jeffery with his find

we plugged it into our bathroom over-the-sink fixture

Doesn't it shed a lovely light?  Hard to put makeup on.....but then, it's a Christmas tree light.

We decided to honor it by decorating our tree with it.  Looks right at home, doesn't it?