Warm thoughts....

We knew it would happen.  We knew that winter would find us..... yet we were all so happy about this  warm weather.  And then BAM.  You guys it is cold out there.  Holy crap cold- the high being lower than the lows last week cold.  But since the "we" I am referring to are the people of the north, we will adjust pretty quickly- as soon as we grudgingly drag our winter coats out of the back of the closet and move them to a more prominent location.  Oh well.  And at some point there could be gloves involved but let's not get over excited yet.

Self-shadow-portrait 

That being said, I barely left the house all weekend.  I went to the grocery store- twice- but that is about it.  I did go to the gym yesterday, for a while, but my silly foot is still a bit sore so like a logical human being, I am going to let it heal another day or two.

Ancient ruins in the old part of Roma

So what happened to my foot you might ask?  Well, I am just going to say that a heavy thin object dropped straight down on it, and I have a very interesting coloration on my big toe and the top of my foot right now.  Stuff happens.  The nice thing is that I am now wise enough to let it heal and not think- I am going to ignore this and press on and exhaust myself!!  Foot be damned!!  nope. Not this time.  I'll give it a few days and then get back at it.  My toe still is not thrilled to be curled up or to be used to push off or hold my balance well.  So, wait I will.

I love how the restaurants in Italy have people out on the street enticing you to come in. 

That is the nice thing about being done with the craziness of dieting, over-exercising and crap like that.  You can listen to your actual body and do the right thing for it.  And "strangely" it allows you to live your life like you want and need!  So I will need to go for a somewhat extended walk soon, I am thinking Wednesday will be a good day, and a little weightlifting as well.  I need to stay strong for my adventures!

Ostia Antica

Any who,  I have been doing a little photo editing whilst cleaning out my Lightroom program.  I am attempting to stay on top of things and not let pictures that I absolutely will never use, print, publish or in anyway need, build up in my Lightroom catalog.  I am being drawn in again to my Italy pictures.  Next time I go there, and there WILL be a next time, I will be taking more time to see things more slowly.  And be able to take pictures more carefully. We packed a lot of living into that trip, but I need to be able to have more time in just a few places.  Venice, Florence and a few more places in the north are high on my priority list.

I was enraptured by all the different sorts of marble- this blew me away

I definitely want to see more of the US and NEED to visit England and Germany as well, so I have a lot of things in the queue for the next several summers.  So if I seem crabby when people try to schedule my time off, that is definitely why.  I have tentative plans for next summer that involve a new ocean for me and a new coast.  :)

IONIC COLUMN TOP!!!!!! This one **may** have been caressed 

I look at the pictures and think about how excited I was for that trip.  The build-up was spectacular and I hope I didn't drive my friends crazy.  The trip itself was SO good, the weather was amazing, albeit super warm.  Then the dreamy high of coming home and trying to describe the feeling and color and tastes and smells was sublime.  I wonder if I will ever have THAT much anticipation again. Will I ever feel so deeply the excitement of flying so far, being immersed in a country where you do not know the language, finding a culture that is so different and yet seems very comfortable and easy. I hope so. I know that every time I do something new- I get a thrill that is the best feeling imaginable.  I know I stare in awe and wonder, I cry if I am moved, touch everything that I am allowed to,  I eat all the interesting food that I can (I still can't eat a frozen pizza- just no) and revel in the new.  If I ever become nonchalant I will know I need to push out of my comfort zone, yet again.

Starting and ending this post with Wisconsin beauty

Because I find when I am out of my safe and easy comfort zone, that is when I often find the most joy.

Sunny Saturday

It was a gorgeous day yesterday!  The SUN was out! It was spectacular and I am sort of disappointed to say, such is not the case today.  I see little snowflakes floating down out there, so once again- grey is the color of the day.  Oh well.

I have a lot of stuff I want to do today: first and foremost removing signs of Christmas from the house.  For now.  I would have had it done by now, but a certain sicko has been firmly entrenched in my livingroom for the last 3 days.

Now I am sure that it was no fun for him, either, but I couldn't walk through the room without that pathetic voice wanting something.  Oh brother.  So, regardless, I am cleaning up today.  I am hoping he and the Barber can go hang out in the cabin this afternoon!

 I also plan to spend 20 minutes relearning lesson 1 of Italiano and going for a walk!  Sun or no sun, I need to get back at it.  I'll just go on the road today, get some miles.  I probably should wear my Yaktrax, but we shall see.  I know it is going to take a while to do the Christmas stuff so I need to prioritize.  1a. Take down Christmas  1b. Go for a walk 2. Italiano 3. eat lunch..... good plan so far.

I have to go back to school tomorrow, and that is good and not....   I do have to sit down and look at my google docs for work and see what the heck I am doing with everyone this week.  Believe it or not, there is only 3 weeks left to the semester.  YIKES!!  This affects my elementary not one bit, but wow does it affect my HS plans.  It seems like ages since I have been at school....

This virus has been obnoxious- I feel like I lost 2 weeks of my life.  And the coughing lingers and it is such a pain.  I hope none of  you get this.  I am not sure what the heck it was, not a cold really.  Oh well, at least I did not pass it on to any of the grandchildren.  Speaking of which - only a little over a week to Grandkiddo #4!!  Woo HOO.  I can't wait to get down there and hang out with them a few days later this month.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the sun photos.  I am enjoying putting them on here, as it is the only way I will see any blue sky until later in the week.  Oh well.

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and find a little joy!

What's Up, Buttercup?

 So I find myself saying these kinds of random things to kids- not sure but I think I picked this one up from The Big Bang Theory the other night.  I have, of course, heard this before, many times....

What's up?  Well I have been whining to every person I know about the ROTTEN reception that I am getting in my HS art room regarding the internet.  Not sure, but I think someone left the room when I started complaining yet again..  but ya know, if you don't say something then no one will know and then how will it get fixed??  Well, it is being worked on and that is awesome.

So it wasn't a terrific few days for my internet service anywhere, except for on my phone.  Somehow AT&T manages to come through for me.  My home internet service took a dive this past Friday, which on the one hand made me SAD.  On the other hand I managed to weed out probably 4000 photos from the computer.  Yes, 4000.  Don't judge me.  Why this happens to me only on weekends (losing service) is way beyond me, why Friday night or Saturday morning..... ideas??  eh.  Whatever.  Anyway, spontaneously the internet comes back up on Sunday night, after I had made an appt. for a service call- they said Tuesday.  I didn't get a chance to reply to an email saying I didn't need a technician, which is good in retrospect, as someone came of course today.  A GREAT Centurylink guy came to the house, after calling  me at school, to check my line, and it was fine.  However when I walked by my modem when I got home, it was down again- and phone call was made to said technician, who came to my house on his way home, and wa LAH- new modem and functioning service again.  I would like to fill out a survey and see if I can get that guy a raise.  I've had him at the house before, when he worked his magic on the outside of the house and he is STELLAR.  

Now I need my kitchen light replaced (of course this involves going to pick out a new light, and I haven't done that yet) and at least 2 dripping faucets fixed.  That would be great!  But barring miracles and lottery tickets, I will have to entice someone into the house for those little tiny jobs, perhaps with cookies??  Just throwing that out there.  Call me- anyone who wants cookies.  And can do light plumbing and electrical.....  :)

I feel super sleepy tonight again, this is coming from someone who rarely gets to sleep before 11:30.  I think the children have infected me with something.  Seriously, people.  So I have been popping zinc and I rested tonight instead of walking or lifting.  I am glad I stayed home I guess, but I feel like I am slacking.  I have to find my Vit. C too, and I suppose since I am turning back into the ghostly white girl that I am (instead of my summery pale beige), I need to pull out the Vit. D as well.  I wish I was out in the sun much of the day still....  Ahhh summer

So I did get out for some walks, and best of all took some pretty good photos on the river Sunday morning.  This getting up at 6 am on Sunday thing.  WUT is up with that??  Well, until the leaves are all fallen, I anticipate going out on the Flambeau regularly.  I am now able to get into the kayak without getting my feet wet (oh the grace that I have) and more important- I can get OUT of the kayak without falling over and getting wet.  And I don't even have my kayak buddy to hold the front of the boat while I regain feeling in my - well - until I could stand again.   I love going out there in the cold mornings and go through the mists.  It was suggested by an old friend that I play the Peer Gynt Suite on my phone while paddling, but I am able to TOTALLY bring that to mind, so all the time I have that tune going through my head.  It is a hoot.

So I am doing some serious babbling and I should get ready for bed.  It is going to take a bit to download photos and finish this, so off I go!  I hope you all can find some joy this lovely Monday night....  I have some dental work tomorrow (yay me) and then I am in wait mode for another little Oswald baby to make their appearance.  I get to be Gramma for a couple days and be there for a certain adorable little Oswald boy!  And that will be a  joy for sure.

More snowy pix

Cue the birds-

And morning has broken and Lola did not become totally covered by the snow....  this children, is a good thing.

This is actually an afternoon pic, but who's to know??

Meanwhile, the Mad-Art Teacher is attempting to get out to her horse and has to shovel Mt Everest out of the way to get to the path that she can again teeter around on and fall up to her knees at least 2 times before she gets to the barn.  By the way, you forgot to remind me to take the shovel out this morning and it was quite the trek to get there.  But you know me I am tenacious!

Shoveled and target is in sight.

 The reason for Mount Everest is of course our truly wonderful snowplow crew who came AGAIN this morning to break through the drifts that formed.  These people are worth their weight in gold this year.  We have a spectacular township when it comes to snow plowing (says the woman whose house is at the beginning of the snowplow route! :) ) Actually though, they do a fantastic job and show up before I am even up in the morning during the week.  Hard working peeps!

Since I have been sitting around for the past 3 days, voiceless, I decided that enough was enough and I had to go for a walk.  A snowshoe session was in order to shake loose the cobwebs and rev up the day. 

A lovely day with scattered clouds and sunshine

 So with scavenged camera in hand (and obsessively checked for everytime I tucked it away in my pocket), I went off on the "trail" that used to be clearly marked.  It was pretty easy to follow once I got into the woods, but it was not easy walking.  It snowed a lot, in case you didn't get the memo!  :)

this is one of those things that looks really cool in person and doesn't quite translate in photo form

So once I got to the edge of the woods, I found the path was actually being used! The deer have their own version of I-90 through the forest. Crazy deer.

Entrance to the woods road

 So even though it looks like the dead of winter, I have seen some signs of spring- or felt them.  I heard the chickadees making some of their spring calls.  They do change their vocalizations as spring gets closer.  Plus I saw the flocks of ravens flying around....  (no pix of that)

I'm sort of obsessed with the shadows on the snow on the trail

 And though it looks like it is -20, the wind felt relatively warm.  I said relatively, this wasn't tropical and I'm grasping at things for the effect of optimism.  Certainly we can all work together to perpetuate this fantasy, right??

Curves in the path is quite enticing- I always want to go around that next turn.

 I headed toward the cabin, stopping to take photos occasionally, listening only to my own thoughts and the wind and the birds and the occasional snowmobile on the nearby Tuscobia Trail.

This was just beautiful framed by the trees and grasses 

This is where the deer decided to stop using the former sled and snowshoe path as a thoroughfare and off I ventured.

LOVE these shadows

The shadows are just amazing at this time of the year under these conditions. I know I have had similar pictures, but they still spark my interest.  I can't not take these shots.

Webs of snow

The cabin shrouded in snow,  no recent tracks or signs of life yet!

 So I made it to the cabin and as I attempted to go one step beyond the trail, down to my knees I sunk in snowshoes.  This was a sign- to turn around!  I obeyed the signs this time!   So off I trudged back home to feed the horse and shovel out in front of the horse barn door.  Not to mention the second Mount Everest that was now piled up in front of the snowpath to the house.

This spot is my favorite snow photography location.  

Kinda cool how you can see the snowshoe tracks and the poles marks!!

It was one of those "If you can't beat them, join them" sort of days.  It snowed, so go snowshoeing.  Or skiing or maybe snowmobiling, but I like the quieter sorts of sports.

And as the forecast calls for some wicked cold coming our way, we are going to have to dig deep to find ways to stay upbeat and joyful as we face some more temps that are well below normal- again- still- yet.

But we Northern Wisconsin types are a persistent lot and we will find our joy!!  Because, you guys, spring IS on it's way!!

And virus induced exhaustion has set in....

And I can't talk, and this is just about killing me.  The MA finds this all quite amusing, which I find a tad annoying.  Humph. In fact a shot of tequila was offered to me and I just can't even begin to stomach the thought of drinking anything.  OY, I must be sick.

So I am going to do a photo post, as I have a lot of pix that haven't been posted and I don't have the mental capacity right now to be clever.  No comments necessary.

This looks like a surreal landscape to me!  I love it.  Going to alter it someday and make a funkier version

Amazing color this year

Sunset

Looking up at the maple tree in front of our house

Through the branches...

Smith Lake in late evening

Calm and zen

silhouette

slashes of white birch

nature works hard...

Trees and loon

Fronds

Flaming tree tops

Morning glory

dramatic morning light

maple

birches and maples

seen on my drive into work..

At the end of my driveway

Same tree, different light

Milk weed- v.1

Milk weed v. 2

Milk weed, v. 3

leaf still life

red

You may have seen some version of some of these on Facebook through my Instagram app.  I am an Instagram addict.  I love using it, and just so you know, it is only available on mobile phones.  You can use all sorts of fancy filters that you already have.  And as soon as I get my new iPhone in a few weeks, I will download more filter and effects apps!  Instagram is a photography social network, and it is awesome- so much fun to use.

But there is nothing like traditional photography beauty!

Until next time, be a joy giver!