Footprints in the Snow

What do you see?

A flying whale twirling through a foamy sky?

The jet trail formations were a bit unusual the other day.

Today we got more snow. It rained all last night and I was hoping to see bare ground this morning and do some clean up outside in the yard and garden, but alas, that was not to be. Last night's rain didn't melt all the snow, and now we have another three inches on top of what was left.

On the Edge of Spring

One has to wonder, why are all the swans hiding their heads in their wings? (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Five minute Friday--When I look in the mirror I see...

This post is part of Five minute Friday over at Gypsy Mama. The goal is to write five minutes without stopping--in hopes you will come up with something creative. I'm not sure that I came up with anything  creative this time, but I think it will be an interesting challenge to look forward to each Friday. (Thanks, Trina!)

(My brother took this photo when we were hiking Old Rag in Virgina in June last year--it is my favorite recent photo of me.)

When I look in mirror I see....

Tired eyes. I've battled chronic fatigue for four years now. I spent  four years trying to figure out what was the cause. When I did finally got a diagnosis and a treatment last October it seemed so obvious that I was quite mad at myself for not having figured it out sooner--a chronic toxoplasmosis infection. I had toxoplasmosis as a young teenager and never completely got over the achy muscles and a low grade fatigue that it caused. The fatigue flared back up in the last stressful semester of nursing school and put me in a downward spiral of mind numbing, can hardly keep my eyes open, almost constant fatigue. The good news is that there is a treatment and I have started it, even though it could take up to a year before I really feel better.

When I look in the mirror I see...

Several pale little scars that are the result of having chicken pox as an adult 10 years ago. That was the sickest I've ever been in my adult life. And actually, I am amazed that my face isn't one huge scar from the chicken pox. At the time my face was one open running blister. I couldn't stand to look at myself in a mirror let alone be seen in public. I shut myself up behind closed doors for two weeks while waiting for the sores to subside. (It took about six months for them to fade enough that I didn't look like I had a severe case of acne.)

When I look in the mirror I see...

A rather plain face (the older I get the more it seems to be my mother's face looking back out at me), but one that is looking at the past with more understanding and at the future that is filled with more hope than I ever dreamed possible. I see someone who is dearly loved and cherished by her husband and who believes the best in life is yet to come.

Frosted Nest

A little nest woven from pine needles and lined with fluff from golden rod seed heads--still almost as perfect as the day it was woven.

Michigan in March

My part of Michigan is made up mostly of barns and corn fields and trees. I stopped for a few minutes today along the side of a country road to make some phone calls and snapped this photo. This is the landscape I drive through every day.

Though it is hard to see in the corn stubble, we do have about 8 inches of snow on the ground. It did not get above freezing today, but spring is on the the way. I can tell because the sand hill cranes are back in the cornfields from overwintering in Florida.  I saw my first lone couple on Feb. 19th. Today though I saw several dozen.  I can't help but wonder if they wish they had stayed in Florida for  a bit longer. There has got to be much more food there right now.

Speaking of cold and snow, I stopped on my way home and picked up the antidote to cold and snow:

Shadows was right there, when I took the little pot of campanulas outside to photograph. He sure has this thing about flowers.

Miss Calico came along to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently she is more of a normal cat and does not seem to be inordinately fond of flowers.

I like how the light from the setting sun turned the snow ever so slightly pink in the above photos.

I sometimes wonder if sunsets would mostly be very plain if it weren't for jet trails. We live below the flyway from Detroit to Chicago. It seems that the prettiest sunsets occur when there is lots of haze in the sky from dissipating jet trails. Take for an example tonight's sunset:

The sunset was even prettier 20 minutes later:

Evening Sky