Embracing Winter

There is a crispness and clarity to the air at this time of year and all of my senses are awakened. In addition to snowboarding excursions, bundled up winter walks, and afternoons of somewhat sketchy ice-skating followed by cold feet…hub and I now have yet another outlet for embracing the long winters…snowshoes!
We forged some trails on our property (and beyond our property too!) this past weekend and I was able to see things from a new vantage point and notice the little things too, that I could never see before:
…a few bird nests tucked into crevices of tree branches…now I know where all our feathered friends fly back to at night after a busy day at our feeder…
…curiously old tree stumps, my favorite one is very large with a brick red hue to it (bottom left corner photo)…it makes me ponder how old the tree is and what it looked like at one time…
…a bright green patch of moss covering the base of a tree…this healthy vibrancy always amazes me when everything else seems so lifeless at this time of year…
…plenty of old, decrepit trees speckled with holes of various sizes, evidence of our resident woodpeckers…
…pretty Red Twig Dogwood branches randomly poking this way and that, adding a bit more color to the landscape…
…and finally, breathtakingly bold, red winter berries dangling down above our heads as we passed underneath…
Goodness! I sometimes can’t believe we really live here in this peaceful, beautiful place!

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P.S. I almost forgot to mention...whenever I'd catch up to hub, I'd find him lying down on his back in a soft pile of snow, a gentle smile upon his cute face. :)