Once you get past the red, green, silver and gold glitz that signifies Christmas, the landscape turns dreary and mostly white. At least here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Right? Um....maybe not.
I'll confess right now I am a big complainer of winter. Early darkness, cold, and I look out my window and see brown. I love flowers and color and summer noise, where the ground hums with activity and the landscape pops with primary hues. So, I set out to change my attitude--at least about color schemes, and to prove that winter has landscapes aplenty that resonate with their own color scheme when the air is cold enough that you can see your breath.
In the late afternoons, if we are lucky and get to see the sun, it sends rays to warm the bark on the trees and cast long, gray shadows on the frozen ground.
Nuthatches are always fun because they take a different approach to life. They do everything upside down. They run down the tree instead of up it, and hang upside down on feeders.
The titmice chatter away at each other and take turns. They seem to be more cordial about their eating habits.
As much as I have been known to complain, I am happy to be a witness to what Mother Nature has to offer in winter. Like a mourning dove taking a short nap in one of our hemlock trees.