Scenes from a few years back: some town in Wyoming. Reminding myself that I much prefer the mysterious and lovely forests of the Eastern US.

It's just me: I was a child of the East, Northern Virginia, Northern Kentucky. Road trips through the Appalachians.  

Especially appreciating Pennsylvania these days.

 

My Approach to the Winter Solstice

 The late autumn and early winter season is challenging. 

Most discouraging is the steadily diminishing light.  The sun at the oddly oblique angle: cold sunlight, lacking warmth, yet in your eyes.

After many decades, I have worked out a system with myself: from late October to Dec 21 is the worst; just get through it somehow.  

Immediately after Dec. 21, my spirits perk up--I mean: the next day.  "It's practically Spring" I have said out loud. Others don't believe it, but I don't care.

The prospects for planting, the colors of flowers, again. Seed catalogs?

A few years ago, I nurtured butterflies in summer. It is a messy activity, so I have stopped doing it.

The Swallow Tail above was one of "my kids" from that era: perhaps its descendants will visit our yard again next summer. 

After Dec 21.