Winter Gray

With everything being so cold and gray outside, I've been longing for something green.  Since finding that in the outdoors at this moment is unlikely, I started going back through my image archives to see if I could find something to cheer me up and and maybe re-work, that would feel warm and sunny.  In the end, I decided to go with a little different feeling in this image, just because.  I think the leaves of this tree/bush (I can't remember what it's actually called) lend themselves to black and white.  I'm not sure what emotion I'm feeling when I look at this final version, but it's definitely different from what I felt in the original.  Here's to a little winter green....uh....gray.

The New Year

My first venture back to the woods, of this new year, did not reveal anything surprising.  It was a beautiful day with sunshine and temperatures in the mid 40s.  Deer were moving about, but kept their distance.  One small buck made a mad dash away when he felt I had gotten a little too close.  Squirrels scurried about the leaf covered forest floor as they always do.  Redtails watched from the tops of trees and glided effortlessly in the wind when they flew.  Their raspy call fills me with a sense of being in the wild and that I am not alone.  I like the woods in winter, as well as every season, really.  The winter woods is open, exposing all of it's secret places that cannot be easily found when it is awake and alive with thick green leaves.  I find it interesting being able to see further back into previously unseen areas and knowing now, what is there.  As near as I can tell, the woods is resting peacefully and will begin to awaken soon.  I'll be ready, whenever it is.