Pictures for Pam, Day 90: Plywood Knot with Snow

(+7 insets!) (please view large!)

Last night I poked my head out our upper deck door and couldn't believe what I heard. Frogs singing. It's below 30 degrees out there and there are so many froggies singing at the pond that I can hear them loudly all the way up here! I told Steve and he didn't believe me until he opened the door and listened. We are amazed. Those frogs just don't care if it's ski season for them, they're determined to find dates for Winter Froggy Prom!

I woke up today and looked out to see a lovely dusting of snow over everything. How beautiful it was. And COLD! It's not supposed to get over 40 degrees today, and when I stepped out for my walk it was 27 degrees again, brrrrr!!!

At the beginning of my walk I took a picture of the snow in our meadow, the golden glow of the sun trying to warm the world up. You'll see this as a panorama inset which I thought turned out very nicely!

It was so pretty to see the snow lightly blanketing everything as I walked up and down the driveway. I was only doing three laps today because it's just too cold, but I also knew that I needed to brave the cold for another 15 minutes. The fact was that I really did need to take pictures. Snow is forecast for several more days this coming week but I've noticed that reports are usually wrong. So, if I wanted pictures, I had to take them right away. Even now, at 8am, I could see that the snow was already melting. I didn't have a moment to waste!

I was ready to go in five minutes, swapping my shoes with my rubber boots and adding knee pads. I already had my macro flash on my camera in preparation, so out the door I went, bee-lining it to the burned shed as I'd planned.

My my my...all the cool pictures! I scoped the scene and immediately found a screw with a snowy hat! Snow balanced on a burned hole in the plywood! A lovely whorl of knot-centered plywood with a dab of snow balanced precariously on an edge...a rusty nail sticking out with a frozen droplet on it...many other wonderful things to take pictures of too, it was fabulous. I will need to go back for more, many interesting opportunities but not enough time!

Time...fifteen minutes came and went...and I was away in my photographic dream. I knew I'd passed my time-limit when my toes started yelling at me.

But...I heard the gentle call from the sporophytes rising out of the moss on the nearby Oak trees...and I couldn't resist them. I strayed from the shed and drifted into the woods...so many lovely pictures to take...so many wonderful scenes to find. My toes were hurting more with each passing moment but...there were little mounds of snow on the moss with sporophytes topped with droplets! How could I not take pictures?

Finally after about 45 minutes my feet refused to go anywhere but towards the house, yelling and screaming all of the way. My hands were also cold, though the rest of me, bundled up nicely, was comfortable. Immediately upon entering the house the boots flew off and I stuck my feet on the heater. If they had a voice they would be groaning with pleasure to feel that warmth directly applied to them. I know, I know...I should be ashamed of myself for being so mean to my poor frozen feeties! Well, they warmed up just fine...it took fifteen minutes of frying them on the heater but finally they were warmed up again. Heh. I'm horrible. But what can I say? Sometimes I am but a mere puppet controlled by my passion, without a choice in the matter! :)

Today I'm sharing a bunch of pictures from the burned shed--I hope you enjoy the show! (I got some wonderful sporophyte pictures too, but they will have to wait for another day!)

Pam, I bet you know all about what it's like to lose yourself in your passions. I can see the "creative crazy person" in many of your presentations...when we make things like this I think you have to lose yourself in the moment! It's a wonderful feeling though, isn't it? To just "become" part of the passion that drives you...it's a delicious thing. Kind of like being on a different level or dimension...I don't know. It can't really be described in words but all creative people know what this is and we all crave it!

I hope that you are able to get some creativity into your life, Pam...the conditions have to be right but I sure do hope you have them or get them sometime soon! *BIG HUGS FROM SOUTHERN OREGON*

Explored on 2/7/19, highest placement, #2.