One of the lessons I’ve learned from the two recent deaths in my family is the importance of a written card. I received many hand-written cards expressing sympathy and caring, sharing wonderful stories of my father and my sister-in-law, and offers of help to me and my family in so many different ways. I have treasured and kept all these cards. Now the calendar page turns to December with its upcoming holidays, and I’d like to remind people of the joy of receiving a special holiday card in the mail. A unique card with a personal message inside will make someone’s day and brighten their holidays knowing you took the time to think of them and write to them. For the previous nine years and again this year, I am offering a line of holiday cards and desk calendars. You will find the links to this year’s offerings on my blog and through my website. Please browse and enjoy, order if you would like, but most importantly please remember how special it is to receive a wonderful card in the mail from a friend who’s taken the time to remember you.
Holiday cards can be found here: https://lindastaatsphoto.wordpress.com/2013-holiday-card-collection/
Desk calendars can be found here: https://lindastaatsphoto.wordpress.com/2014-desk-calendar-collection/
Author: lindastaatsphoto
Early winter dawn along the Mississippi River
The cold of winter has swept south from the Canadian prairie into Minnesota. The lakes are icing over, but the rivers take a bit longer because of the current. We were north of the Twin Cities along the banks of the Mississippi River yesterday. The early morning light cast a beautiful glow on the barren trees along the banks, and the water was flowing but it contained numerous chunks of ice headed southward. Eventually the river will freeze in some sections, but the sections that remain open will attract birds and wildlife, and will teem with activity throughout the cold winter months.
Frost and ice in the morning
Our temperatures have been dropping at night causing the sloughs and lakes to begin their ice-over. It isn’t thick by any means, but it is the start of our shift from fall to winter. I’ve always enjoyed the reflections of trees and horizons in water, and the change over to ice gives these same reflections a much different look. The lines are softer and more muted, and until our lakes are snow-covered the reflections can sometimes be almost mirror-like. On this morning two days ago, the sun was burning through the cold temperatures and the heavy frost causing the landscape to glow in the early light.
A final look at autumn
November is a transition month in Minnesota; our weather can be anywhere from warm and sunny to gray and cold, rain or snow to wind or calm. It seems like we’ve covered all these bases in the past few days. Early in the week I took this image of the brilliant colors of a cotoneaster in our yard. As the morning sun lit the leaves they came alive with a beautiful glow; perhaps it was their swan song. By Wednesday morning we awoke to two inches of wet snow gracing the golds and reds in the remaining leaves. Thursday night our temperatures plummeted below freezing, followed by strong winds on Friday. The leaf colors were killed off by the cold, and the leaves themselves were blown off the trees and bushes to the ground. Within a few days the colors and leaves of autumn had given way to the skeletal trees of winter.
The quieter side of fall
With my previous posts of fall I’ve shared some brilliant colors, and we continue to see those in our landscape now. But there’s a quieter side to this season too. This is the side that speaks of the upcoming change to winter, the coolness that is evident in the air, and the slow turn into the dark of winter. We were at Wild River State Park early one morning recently. The park sits along the St. Croix River which divides the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It’s a lovely, and quiet area, especially in the morning. The air was cool and yet the river temperature was still a bit warmer causing the fog to hang low in the river valley. This layer of fog seemed to soften the sunrise, to quiet any sound on the river or land, and to soften the golds and browns that were evident from the seasonal change. Eventually the sun rose high enough over the bluff to burn away the fog, and the light became much brighter and sharper, as did the sounds of the day too.
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