Walks and Thoughts on Snow

Other than the extreme winter I experienced in Chicago, this is the lowest temperature that I ever witnessed here. It is hard to make believe to my tropical friends that the temperature actually went down to 1 degree Fahrenheit (Celsius 17 subzero) couple days ago. Snow came down 6 days ago and I have not touched my car key since. One day after the snow, there were 259 car accidents in Eugene according to Register Guard. Eugene people love snow, but not experienced enough to deal with it.

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cotton call or shred ice, your call

Temperature has been so low, the one feet snow accumulated in one day is still there.  I love to see snow when I open window blind in the morning, the whole white world is so wildly beautiful.

It was sunny and gorgeous outside. The freezing chill kept me home, but my mind was wandering and my heart finally made the call – I must go out and shoot a few pictures. The problem is, I don’t dare to drive on heavy snow. I have wrecked my car twice due to lack of experience steering the wheels on snow and my memory of recent deadly-turn-magically car accident is still fresh. So, I thought about my super chauffeur, my husband.

Of course I made a sound suggestion to do a grocery run and by the way, shoot a few. Unless Ducks football game is on, he always said YES. I cheer for Ducks but they are my enemies, too, on this note, LOL.

Costco traffic is unbelievably light.  It is good time to shop while most of people would rather stay warm inside the house. By the time when snow starts to melt, the streets will be icy and messy. Housewives will swarm out after being bond at home for the entire week and when refrigerator is getting empty. I had good rationale to convince my husband to take me out even though you know what’s at the bottom of my heart….. photo walk on snow, hooray!

shaky in the cold

He certainly has a big heart. He not only replenished all our bird feeders, he brought hummingbird feeder in every night to thaw and put it out before he goes to work in the morning. I watched him bring in the feeder 3-4 times during the weekend. Birds certainly know where to go. Many are around in this last week.

It was cold and dark, I saw this hummingbird stationed on the limb for a while, I believe, to declare his territory. The shot was taken from inside the house and from distance.  The image is not very sharp, but can you see hummingbird’s fluffy feather? We add layers of clothing and put on heavy jacket, so do they. They beef up their feather to preserve the heat.

beef up to fight chill

It makes me feel good seeing gold finches were bathing in the sun and did the same as hummingbird. The expansion of its feather makes it look like an egg.  Birds have natural weathering apparels and we use the same material for our warm clothes and comforters. Interesting, isn't it?  I know I have a reason to like birds.

Ever since I had a close shot of heron in Taiwan, I have seen herons in Ridgefield, in Portland in closer range and I actually saw 3 herons in Eugene Delta Ponds couple days ago.   This guy stood on snow and I liked its back-lit silhouette. I could not see them closer earlier and now they are everywhere. I think herons are now making peace with me after I witnessed its criminal act in Taiwan.

He is now my friend

If you ask me how cold is it for the temperature to be subzero 12-17 degree Fahrenheit, see it yourself. It is crystal clear, it is solid and I had cold chill by just looking at it.  I  had my snow pants on, heavier dow jacket on, plus all the warm accessories, but my fingers were still frozen, so were my feet. I know if I stay outside all night, I would turn into an ice pillar. period. There are now ice hotels in Quebec and Norway, as far as I know. I cannot begin to imagine how people get the pleasure being refrigerated in a hotel where comfort should  be priority.

Ice Jaw

Are we having such a good life that we have to torture ourselves every once a while in order to remember what misery is like and can appreciate more what we have now?

Below is the processed compost pile at Lane Forest Products.  I saw the pile steaming on cold days when I drove by. Wanting to take a picture for long,  but there is no place to pull over. Now I am on passenger side and the pile is covered with snow, even more interesting.  Suddenly a compost pile turns into a smoky mountain.

It is OK to dream

When our car stopped at traffic light, I spotted these roses from distance. Out of curiosity, I took a quick shot. Pondering how come there are still colorful roses this time of the year and how can they stay erected on snow...

When the picture is downloaded and brought close. I realized they are plastic roses and stems. But they look pretty on snow, does it matter if it is real or artificial as long as it is pleasing to our eyes?

Do you feel better when you spend more on something and think it has to be better because it is more expensive? I say, let's not to be the victim of marketing. The matter of the fact is, when the flowers look too perfect, we would start to doubt their authenticity.  It is like math, like science. When the end is reached, it goes back to a new beginning.

true or false, who cares

Now I mention above picture is taken from a compost pile, do you still enjoy the same? Simple pleasure can readily be accessible if our state of mind is not in the way. I have seen a note on a porcelain piece: "I smile because I have no idea what's going on."  

Below is a reflection shot of trees, snow, ice and pond. All are as real as it can be, but I felt original shot was too overly pronounced, too exposed, too overwhelmed with dropped tree limbs, thick snow pack and big sheet of ice. I
like the scene, but I want it simpler in order that I can enjoy more, and not to be distracted.

Bottom Line - Peace in Mind

By using a plug-in that I recently purchased, I was able to make it a semi sepia tone and fade out lots of clutters.  If I need to come up a new year resolution for 2014, I would say, 'Simplicity', and that's exactly what I addressed when I started this blog back in January.

Simple Pleasure

My daughter Laura gave me a dozen tulip bulbs last Christmas. I planted them on my mini vegetable bed for the winter. When the buds started to come out, I moved them to the flower boxes on my deck fearing that the aggressive deer in my neighborhood would come and munch them off.  Laura texted me that her tulips were bloomed when I was in Seattle three weeks ago, but mine did not bloom till last week, very slowly.  I looked at them every day and waited patiently for the right moment to photograph.  I could have gone back to tulip farms for my photos, but photographing the flowers you  grow on your own has that special meaning.

Good timing was finally arrived two days ago. Almost all the buds were opened and they looked beautiful. I had my camera gear ready early in the morning and just waited for sun to rise higher…It might have been couple hours when I remembered to get off my chair and reach for my camera. Walking out to the patio, I noticed that something was missing… the tulip blossoms were not there, but the green stems and leaves were still standing. Guess what? Squirrels topped the blossoms out of the plants!  I have never known that squirrels eat flowers. I cannot believe that among all the pine cones on the ground, they still preyed on the flowers.

Thought our battle with squirrels is over, I guess not. Some people love squirrels and they feed squirrels, not me. I only feed birds and I like the courteous birds such as Nuthatch and Chickadees. Why? They came, picked the seeds and left. Unlike some other birds, they came and lingered on the feeders and fought off new visitors if there were any. As for squirrels, they would take over the feeder, dump all the seeds to the ground in order that they can consume them all and they assure that they leave nothing for other bird buddies.  And, they chewed on anything that they can get their hands on if they cannot get what they want. I don't care for overly aggressive creatures.

Just yesterday, I took a few random shots thinking that I will do better today.  Today I don’t even have the flowers to begin.  This spring has been quite dry in comparison with last year, but the temperature is still cool and not much happening so far.  Well, I might as well use whatever I have. I don't want my disappointment extends to my daughter who hoped that we have tulips to enjoy right outside of our house by now.

The first thing I want to share is this amazing yellow Tulip. Squirrel left it a thin skin to be attached to the stem, and it is still hanging there.  It is surviving however the chance for it to open is almost zero. But who knows.  We are living in a world full of miracles and surprises. If God is willing, anything is possible.

We can travel to tulip farms to see the big scale of the stunning beauties, focus on a few varieties in a local farm or simply enjoy what you have at home. At this point, a single stem of flower is more than what I want, and to tell my daughter how much I appreciate her intent. She might not expect what I can get out of these few flowers.

When my pre-visualized photo plan did not turn out,  I use what I have and try to turn them into something that I can enjoy. The original background for pink tulip was black and white. I have given it a fiesta-like background to celebrate today, a Friday, and one of the many everyday's that God has made.

There are these ordinary orange tulips that bloomed earliest and I'd expected them to open wider so I can peek into its stigmas as that is my favorite thing to do to photo a flower.  Unfortunately, this random shot is all what I have. mourning? giving up? waiting for next year? No, no, no, something has to come out of this.

I want squirrels to know that, as smart as they are, we human beings are surpassing their small wiz, we are smarter and unbeatable. So I packed away my down feelings and used Ortan Effect on the orange tulip shot.  There were two flowers in the picture, so I cropped the right one to make it a 1-1/4 flowers. We want odd numbers on a photo. I thought the backdrop on left is a bit distracting, but it seemed to blend in after I applied the effect.

Life is here for us to live and to enjoy.  When something does not turn out the way we wanted, try to look for a new meaning and give it a new definition. 

I did not make myself a deluxe sundae, but a few Popsicles have

lightened my day.