Everyone knows that good fences make good neighbors, and I sincerely hope the loony behind us is enjoying the 6-foot chain-link fence we constructed just for her.
Puppy Cody is enjoying her fenced in yard, both in summer and winter, and shows no inclination to try to jump the 4-foot chain link on the other sides of the yard.
I’ve discovered to my delight that the fence serves yet another purpose: it gives me something to hold onto when negotiating the icy sidewalk between the car and the side door. I’m so glad we opted to start the fence at the end of the porch:
Cody has no trouble, however, hopping down those steps and traversing the icy sidewalk:
Oh, and for those of you who noticed the slight gap between the fence and the edge of the porch, and worried about escaping pups, rest assured that Cody can’t quit fit through that gap:
Anyway.
Today was very sunny, so despite the cold (12 degrees Fahrenheit at 1:00 pm), I decided it might be a great day to stroll through Walton Woods Park when there would be few, if any, people there.
The two or three hardy souls I encountered seemed eager to complete their exercise, and no one was taking any breaks on the benches.
Damn, it was cold, and it was hard to see the trail:
Naturally, I was hoping for some wildlife, and I did see lots of tracks:
Looks like someone was having fun on that fallen tree, doesn’t it? All the tracks were along the trunk of the tree, none on either side of it.
After about 20 minutes, my chin was frozen and I could no longer feel my lips. The path was beginning to get icy, and I didn’t want to fall so I headed back towards my car. A young lady was approaching, and I stepped to the side to let her pass. She noticed my camera and said, “Oh, I don’t know if you saw it, but there are four deer by the empty building.”
Say what? I didn’t see any deer! Well, heck, now I had to backtrack to try to find them.
Still no deer, but I kept my eyes peeled.
Omigod, is that a BEAR?
Now, anyone with any sense who sees a bear in the woods ahead of them would surely turn and go the other way. But, of course, photographers (and photographer wannabees) have no sense.
So, slowly I approached, step by step …
Well, heck (again), I should have recognized that stump from the last time I took photos in that area! I guess the snow confused me.
At that point, I could no longer feel my feet, so I called it a day. The deer can wait for warmer weather to pose for me. ‘Cause I know they want to. Why else have they been making it so easy for me?
Hope you all had a good Friday. Stay warm!
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
These are beautiful images. We don’t have any snow yet, but I look forward to a walk like this.
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Thank you, Dan. I just wished it had been a wee bit warmer for that walk.
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Maddie wants to walk this morning but it’s 12° – I’m holding out for 20.
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Can I send you some of our warmth? Today is a little cooler than it has been over the last week at 22°C (72°F), and I’m uncomfortable with higher temperatures. Most days this last week have been around 28°C (82°F) and one day was 31°C (88°F). I simply can’t cope with that, so you are more than welcome to swap some of your cold for some of our hot 🙂
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Your temperatures sound just about right for me. I’ll FedEx some of our cold over to you.
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I have some red leaves that I’m always sure are a cardinal.
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Ha! I was sort of hoping it was a bear, so I could finally get a wildlife photo of some kind.
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Every one of your photos looks kind of blue, so even your camera must have been freezing. I got a chill just reading this post. Hope you get your January thaw soon.
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I know. That blue tinge bothers me, and I have to learn a way around it. It only does that in winter, though. I’ve tried using the “snow” setting, but that just seems to make the photo darker and bluer. Editing the photo afterwards helps some, but not enough. I suppose I could just wait until warm, sunny weather to do my photography, then the pictures would come out just fine.
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You are braver than me. It was 12 here and just letting the pups out in their yard was enough for me… and them. The blue is because snow is actually blue in the color spectrum. We change it to white in our brain but the camera can’t. How do I know this…because it was what I taught. I remember when I was working as a professional camera person, one of the other camera people white balanced the camera on the snow instead of the instituted white card ( this goes way back when cameras were huge and not digital) and everybody he shot was blue. You can correct it some by adding yellow in post edit if you have the capabilities on your software 🙂 Enjoy the cold.
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Ah, adding yellow! I was afraid that would make everything green. I did try different sides of the spectrum, but never got past red because that turned the photo purple. I added light and brightness to get it a little less blue, at least. So much to learn! I may be asking you for advice in the future, Jane. Beware.
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I’m glad you have the extra safety the fence adds, too! Our fencing will be placed similarly, that whole back door thing, when your house is built before everyone had an attached garage and a dog to let out.
I laughed heartily as you slowly approached THE BEAR.
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Joey, I can’t even tell you what a relief it was the first time I was able to just open that side door and let Cody out without her leash. That fence was worth every penny we paid for it.
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Beautiful pictures, CM!!! Cold doesn’t stop me. I dress for the occasion. And I’m glad you have that fence to hang on to. Slipping and falling on ice is seriously dangerous. LOL@ the bear. I’ve done the exact same thing with “oh my goodness I spot an eagle” only to later find it is a broken tree. Too funny!! 💝
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And I never did find those deer. Of course, it might have helped if I knew what that young lady meant by “the empty building” – maybe I wasn’t even in the right area!
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Fantastic photos!
~If that gap becomes a problem, you could always put an upright in to block it.
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So far Cody hasn’t shown any interest in trying to squeeze through that gap. I’m more concerned that she could jump over the porch railing if she really wanted to. Fortunately, she’s not the most energetic dog in the world.
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Cute. 😀
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Fantastic photos 💜
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Thank you, Willow. PS – if you look really close at the “snowy woods” picture, it looks like someone (a very tall someone!) hiding behind the tree near the top center of the photo. I only noticed that after I edited the photo – just like many of my photos seem to have faces in them once they’re edited. Very strange.
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