Frostnippered

"Cold day at the bus stop" is getting kind of redundant, so I'll just say... uh, yeah, it was an especially cold day at the bus stop. Emma even put her mittens on. If she puts her mittens on, you know it's got to be cold!

I almost always wear my mittens in the winter because I am not a big fan of chapped and bleeding hands. Today would have been a day to wear doubled-up mittens, if I had two pairs. I went across the street to find some morning snow shots after the bus left, but in no time at all my thumbs and fingers were aching with cold. I blame that on all the times when, as a child, I stayed out in the cold until my fingers and toes were numb. They itched and burned and turned all red while they struggled to warm up and thaw out. Sometimes we actually cried. I didn't cry today and they didn't need to thaw out because I never stay out that long anymore. Maybe because I outgrew my ice skates...

Squirrel tracks (cool, huh?)

Out my kitchen window this morning I saw Mr. Gray take a bite of an apple I'd left out under the weeping birch. He looked so cute that I grabbed my camera and headed upstairs where I could get a better shot at him, but no sooner had I gotten focused, then he moved. Little Red was on his way down the tree and off across the yard went Mr. Gray. Of course, that red squirrel never ate the apples today, but he couldn't possibly share either. (He doesn't know I could always find more.)

 Food for furry foragers (or big black birds)

 Junco on the woodpile
(They like to leave birdie tracks on my porch.)