We’ve quickly moved from late fall to snowy winter. The last two weeks have brought snowfall after snowfall, some were quite significant! The forests and woods take on a whole new feeling with winter. Stand still amongst the trees and there’s a quiet that surrounds you. After a minute or so there’s a rustle in the remaining oak leaves that are now brittle with winter’s cold. Eventually the birds ignore your presence and go about their singing and flitting from branch to branch. The snow has marked the direction of the storm on the sides of the trees. And as the sun clears the forest’s edge it lightens the entire area and sparkles off the whiteness all around.
Wisconsin
A full moonrise over a frozen lake
The cold has settled in and the lakes are freezing. Throughout the day I watched the clouds and the snow move in. The wind would pick up and blow the snow down the lake, forming whirlwinds of white skimming the ice. As quickly as the snow came in, then the sun would come out. The ice would creak and moan as the heat from the sun combatted the cold of the ice. There were sub-sonic groans that pierced the air. And then the cycle would repeat – snow then sun then snow. But before sunset the skies cleared and there was a beautiful and quiet full moonrise. It lifted over the opposite shore and trees and eventually directed its light on the snow-covered and ice-cracked lake, littered with leaves now encased in the ice.
The demise of fall
We have transitioned from fall to winter quickly. The colors are gone, the air is cold, and the landscape is very neutral. How quickly I’m missing the yellows, golds, reds, and deep burgundies that we experienced just a few short weeks ago! The waters are already beginning to ice up and we have seen snow although it has not stayed. Yet. I needed one more post with brilliant colors before I could put fall behind me.
Fall in its glory
Fall is here in all its glory! The yellows, golds, oranges, and reds, all aglow against a dark stormy sky but lit up by a short-lived stream of sunlight, and reflected in the quiet and still waters of the lake. This is the beauty we look forward to every year in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
An abandoned building and the life around it
I was driving down a county road and this old weathered building caught my eye. I’m not sure if it was a barn or just a building. Time has taken its toll as the white paint is now chipped and fading. The door on the end appears to have been cut out of the wood planks and the hinge is completely rusted as is the handle and the lock that is holding the door shut. As I studied this building I saw something flit in front of my camera. Amidst the purple asters and other flowers and grasses surrounding this building was a monarch butterfly landing, feeding, and moving on to another flower. Although the building is presently abandoned and lifeless, keeping its story to itself, there was much life and activity going on all around it.
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