When the Weather was Sunny...

It's a good thing I took photos this weekend when the weather was nice. This morning's freezing rain didn't offer much opportunity for a new photo. Gray and gloomy doesn't begin to cover it. Dismal is the word that comes to my mind.

The freezing rain is light, though it doesn't take much to make walking and driving treacherous. But perhaps because it is light, the birds that frequent my feeders aren't acting desperate, which is how I describe how their feeding frenzy before a big storm.

So this morning I am posting a photo that's three days old, back when the day was a sunny one. I took a walk in the forest behind the cabin (just visible in the background). It's a rocky section of forest, though it's not still too bad in this photo. Once past this easier section, the going is slower, which suited my mood that day. I can walk for an hour and not get too far, as I pick my way over or around the rocks and boulders. Because it is rocky, I usually try not to go too far uphill or downhill, as that only adds to the difficulty, especially when even this little bit of snow hides the smaller rocks enough to make balancing precarious. The boulders are easily visible, but it's still slow going as I pick my way around and between them.

Deeper into the woods I found the downed tree that you see in my second photo. It's covered with shelf fungus to an unusual degree. It's not uncommon to find fungus on a downed tree. It is uncommon to find as much fungus on the tree as you see here--and even that is just a part of it.

In spring and summer, it's easy for me not to notice things like fungus. Leaves and color both combine to obscure the view of smaller things, sometimes. The bareness of winter helps me notice things obscured in the lusher seasons. That's part of the reason I like winter walks. It's a little bit like traveling in different territory, even when I am not far from home.