One of my wood piles is down to bark chips, dried moss, and saw dust. It’s not time to sweep up the season though. January temps are getting up to the 40s almost daily with more of the same predicted. I’m not ready for winter to be over but glad to let the rest of the wood pile sit untouched for a couple of days. And I never turn down warm sun. I took the kids to the lake today and sat on the corner of the dock soaking up warmth. I was overdressed and had to shed my hat and gloves, unzip my coat. Since my last photo was so dark and grey, I’m including one from today so you can see what it’s like on the other days. Absolutely spectacular:

Lots of bare ground showing up. Kinda glad to lose some ice from the driveway, ice from the dog paths in the yard, ice off the roof. Lots of dripping going on. The icicles come and go.

“Jim’s” bench down at the lake was free of snow today, so sat there for a few too.

Coop and Sara had a good run and time for exploring. The deer spine showed up again, the same one from last year, a little smaller, a little grayer. Amazing how an old string of bones can entertain Sara so thoroughly. I had taken my skates just in case. Though the lake still looks frozen I don’t believe it. Hard freezes will be back and I’ll still get my chance at gracefulness. We were all sorry to leave today, it was so pretty – and warm!