reflections

As I walked through the woods stepping in snow, my eyes glimpsed water. After some careful positioning I was able to peek through the trees to frame this reflection.

delicate

Butterflies are delicate creatures, fun to watch, a challenge to capture in a photo. Sometimes they stay at rest for a bit, moving when you least expect it.

inside out

I find walking to be a good way to refocus my thoughts at work (and play).

During the warmer months it is a simple matter of walking outside of the office, getting a breath of fresh air. For winter quick walks during the work day I often stay inside. My office (OK, it's a cube!) is in one of a set of two buildings connected by an inside hall. I've discovered that a half of a mile passes under my feet if I walk a loop inside both buildings following the outside edge.

a pop of red

Flowers in a greenhouse feed my need for color in this season of chilly air.

wild waves

Today's late morning high tide at Hampton Beach was really high. As I drove towards the shore on Route 101 I saw that the water in the wet areas to the side of the road was higher than a normal high tide. Then I reached a rather large puddle stretching across the road. Not sure of the depth I turned down a different road, reaching the beach a bit further south than my initial route. As soon as I saw the ocean I knew I needed to stop!

The waves were wild, leaving no beach for walking. Hampton Beach has a concrete wall separating the beach from sidewalk and road, providing a walking location for this no beach day. I've never seen the water swallow up all of Hampton Beach before; there is usually beach available even at high tide.

Two women and two dogs ventured through the wet to walk by the edge of the waves.

I saw a bit of beach and started to head down the stairs when I saw the next set of waves crashing higher and higher, covering the very edge of the sand.

I stayed away from the wild water. I stood at the edge of the sea wall, listening to the ocean and watching the waves.

chill air

I feel very lucky to be north of the blizzard line, just flurries here so far.

The cold is a bit surprising though. The temperature this morning was a nippy 21 degrees; since the forecast was for an expected high of 31 I waited until after noon to head out walking.

It's nippy out there. When I finished walking I found that the temperature was still 21, with wind pushing the feel to 6 degrees. Brrr... I guess the weather wizard didn't agree with the forecast.

layered

Look to the sea... the sky is full of clouds, the ocean shows as rolling waves, the beach shows ripples of wet sand.

butterfly wings

A butterfly and a tiny flower...

trees, paired

Trees stand tall, wearing complementary shapes.

in Odiorne Point State Park, Rye, NH

a bit of white

I woke this morning to a clean world. Snow passed through overnight, leaving a couple inches of white on the ground.

a coastal walk

Low tide provided a firm walking surface, a place to listen to the music of the ocean.

at Jenness State Beach, Rye, NH

More photos from today's walk are in the gallery New Hampshire coast :: 2016.

a walk in the snow

When this morning's heavy rain changed to snow I knew it was time for a walk. I dressed for wet conditions, grabbed a camera and headed out into the white.

The snow was falling into puddles of water from the earlier rainfall, creating a very slushy road surface. Wearing the right clothes helped immensely; my feet stayed dry, protected by waterproof snow sneakers.

Heavy snow changed to a variation of freezing precipitation before allowing a bit of blue sky to emerge from the clouds. There was very little snow accumulation, just enough to make the roads a bit messy.

Walking in the snow makes me smile.

soup day!

This morning is quite wet and chilly; I think it's a good day for soup.

I just started a big pot of split pea vegetable soup using a variation of the recipe that you can find in a blog post from two years ago titled a good soup day. I used the same base today, adding a slightly different set of vegetables.

I look forward to a big bowl of soup tonight!

pink

When I see the bright pink of a bougainvillea I feel like I am looking at a flower. It turns out that the flowers are tiny, hiding amid the color of the "flower-like spring leaves".

From the Wikipedia Bougainvillea page:

"The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow."

leaves in line

The leaves of a plant form lines in green.

wet!

It would have been really easy to stay inside today but somehow throwing away a winter day that was wearing a temperature in the 50s seemed a big waste. It rained all day, moving from light to heavy and back to light again.

I headed out walking during one of the light times, hoping the weather wizard would keep the wet at that level. Nope! I walked through heavy rain, trying at first to keep my feet out of the fast flowing water on the side of the road. It didn't take too long before I realized there was no avoiding the wet.

A good rain jacket made my wet walk quite comfortable. Now that I'm home again, crumpled newspaper (changed several times) is drawing the moisture out of my shoes.

winter color

On this gray and sometimes foggy day I found myself yearning for color. A visit to the greenhouses at Lyman Estate in Waltham satisfied my need.

For more winter colors, visit the gallery greenhouses of Lyman Estate :: 2016.

watching

A bird among butterflies, he makes sure to keep an eye on people walking by.

intricate design

I'm always amazed at the intricate design and wonderful colors worn by butterflies.

waves

Watching the ocean has a wonderful calming effect.

waves, at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

first chill

The temperature tells me that winter has really arrived. I just returned from walking to find that the air is 18 degrees with a wind speed of 15 gusting to 22 miles per hour. Brr!

My walk tonight consisted of circles relatively close to home to allow me to get back to warmth quickly if necessary. I guess I've had good practice selecting the right layers; I was quite comfortable even though my face was a bit chilled by the end of my walk.

butterflies!

I felt the pull of butterflies... yesterday I headed to the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory to satisfy the need to be surrounded by delicate flying creatures.

The activity level of butterflies is amazing. There were some sitting on feeders, on slices of banana, on flowers or leaves. Others were flitting about the conservatory, flying in what seemed to be aimless patterns high above my head.

Butterflies are beautiful!

The full gallery is available at butterflies :: 2016.

two signs

Don't you think that the sign in the store window announcing "stuff" should be enough?

I found it a little odd that someone felt the need to tape an additional paper sign on the mural decorating the side of the building.

in Turners Falls, MA