ice & water

A skim of ice floats on a section of a pond in Harold Parker State Forest. Just beyond the ice is a stretch of open water.

top photos :: 2020

It's that time of year, the time when I wander through the photos that I've published during 2020 to find my favorites. It's always an interesting exercise, one that takes time and changes day-to-day until I have made my final choices.

From the beginning of the year, here are my selections.

orchids

a portrait of smiles

tulip

edged in pink

purple

a pop of tulip color

multi-colored dahlia

posing

Just Breathe

by Karen Fralich

malachite butterfly

perched

The Fish Bowl

by jeks, jeksone.com

receding tide

at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

lone shell

on a tide-swept beach

quiet

colors of early winter

These photos are collected into the gallery top photos :: 2020. If you'd like to see larger versions of the photos or you would like to view them as a full screen slideshow, click here to jump to the gallery, then press the triangle-shaped button at the top.

reflected light

A walk at Harold Parker State Forest late in the day (from a sunlight perspective) exposed magical light.

bare

Warmth and rain over the last days have removed the snow remaining from our last snowfall.

Trees stand tall, branches bare. Remnants of grass wear winter brown.

a wet walk

The air was warm this morning as wind-lashed rain fell. While it might have been smart to treat the day as a rest day, I felt a need to move.

I dressed for warmth and wet, wearing capri-length leggings, a t-shirt, and a rain jacket. My jacket was dripping and my shoes had puddles in them by the time I finished walking but the jacket served to keep me dry. It was good to get out.

No photos from today but here is a pre-storm capture from yesterday's walk at Crane Beach.

coastal wind

While a high wind warning is in effect starting tonight at midnight and all of the weather sites I looked at said the wind along the coast would be light this afternoon, there were times that it was quite difficult to walk into the wind.

I walked at Crane Beach today, starting out in a direction that allowed me to have the wind at my back on the return trip. There were times when the light sand blowing across the surface of the beach almost looked like snow.

an inland view

I headed to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge this morning with the intention of walking on the beach. When I arrived I found the end of the boardwalk covered with snow and ice, the remnants of last week's storm. While it may only have required a small amount of slipping, I opted to walk on the inland side of the refuge instead.

The temperature was in the mid-30s and it was windy. Between the layers I was wearing and a decent walking pace I was quite comfortable. It was a good walk.

puddle reflections

I headed to Lawrence this afternoon with the thought that I would walk along the canal. When I arrived I found that the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled after last week's 12 inch snowfall, and the streets were not cleared to a width that supported pedestrians in addition to cars. My walk was shorter than planned!

During my shortened walk I was delighted to find a puddle reflecting the puffy white clouds from the sky above.

messy

Walking conditions today are still a bit messy.

After last week's storm the roads were cleared, but not to the full width of the pavement. Some of the sidewalks were shoveled or plowed, leaving a bit of snow on top of the pavement. While the conditions made for interesting walking, it was still good to be out.

the day after

Yesterday was a snow day. Today, blue skies returned.