A Welcoming Embrace!

 ❄❄That's what I offered the past few days, a welcoming embrace to the new fallen snow! ❄❄  

I feel more motivated to be "out & about" the colder it is and the snowier it is.  One day I went for a usual stroll around the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  It's not as popular a place now with the main attractions gone south and only the usual suspects are hanging about. I like this place for more than just the birds!  On this day, one of the usual suspects stood its ground or I should say sat its ground, so I backed down. At first, I moved towards it thinking it would take off like the coyotes have been doing and are hazed to do, but this time it did not, it sat there and stared at me while licking its chops.  That's OK there is much more to see so I sauntered off in the opposite direction. 

While I sauntered along the Male Mallard did not, it sat in the snow.  He looked quite content all comfy and cozy nestled in the pillowy marshmallowy mounds of snow.  In the large area that looked like this, this very small section was where the sun did shine.  

Ice fascinates me!  That is another reason the Sanctuary attracts me at this time of year, between the river, the creeks and the lagoon, there are many opportunities to see various ice formations and designs. How about this!  The ice within that circle in the middle was swirling around within the circle while to the left of the circle the ice chucks floated on by.   

Then there was this!  What?  How?  I thought someone went out onto the Lagoon and drew this design, but when I looked around patterns like this covered the whole area on both sides of the bridge.  Could someone have done this?  Surely not!  There were no foot prints and the ice does not look thick enough at all to hold the weight.  Is Mother Nature the creator?  

Ice fascinates me and I want to be on it!  

This is the closest I will get to be on it!  

For now, this will have to do!  

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This day started with a scurry rather than a saunter at sunrise!  A person arrived at the same time as me and was heading in the same direction I was.  I wanted to make first tracks in the new snow, so I scurried off ahead.  Their pace was the saunter style so I had time to snap shots while breaking trail.  

The colours were glorious through the Birth Forest.

pink radiated up from the snow laden trees

The rays lit up the sky!  

The day was fully dawned on the upper reaches and blue filled the sky.  I stopped at the view point to have a look down into the valley where Nose Creek flows.  That's the Birth Forest behind me.

The sun felt nice while up on the ridge, it had not reached down into the valley yet and it was bitterly cold when I got down there.  I watched as the sun began to rise higher.  It did not take long while hiking along here to develop frosty fringes.  The hair peeking out from my hat and hood collected a coat of white. 

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While "out & about" this week, I took a few decorations off my Christmas Tree to capture photos of them out in nature.  Now as they hang back at home on my Tree, they each have a little story to tell. 

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While collecting kilometres towards the Estrada Real Virtual Challenge, my medal for completing my share of the Team effort conquering the Appalachian Trail arrived.  I should have checked my mailbox earlier instead of today, I could have captured a photo of it on a real snowy tree rather than on my Christmas Tree.  The back of the medal has a bear paw print.  

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I could not wait to snap a shot of the exact setup I hoped to see up on Nose Hill, that I could use as a reference photo for a water-colour painting.  I went with what I had. This is my Buck!  He looks gentle, sweet and has an innocence about him.  That was not the look I was going for but that's the facial expression that transpired through the painting process.  Painting this Buck and the mountains was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.  I would still like to see a real version of this while hiking up on The Hill.

my three reference photos