After a short hiatus, a look at how the other (northern) half lives

Hello, everyone.

I went out of town for a few days and discovered how it feels to be in actual cold. (And this was in good weather for up there!)

I am told that in warm weather many waterfowl come to this pond. There is a strolling path around the water, and people were using it.

While riding on the roads there, I did see a couple of sand-hill cranes. They were standing right next to the pavement! Their long necks and their bright red flashes above the eye were impressive.

A late-winter warm spell came while I was there and melted the top layer of ice on the pond.

There is still ice there, but it looks like water now. One goose was gingerly stepping out onto the ice to see if it was swimmable yet.

In the spring these folks will have the famous spring bulbs of the temperate zone to enjoy, like drifts of daffodils and spreading zones of tulips in many colors. In south Texas neither one grows. Also no crocuses!

Photos were taken with my Samsung 5 cell phone. It's not bad for a phone camera. I do still prefer either my Canon point and shoot (new, 10 ounces) or my slightly heavier Canon camera (older, 12 ounces) that was taken on all of our Camino de Santiago walks so far. The new point and shoot camera's first outing was the Israel pilgrimage. It has 40X optical zoom. Sadly, it also has a completely different battery size than DH's Canon point and shoot. But I forgive it, as even with the extra charger to carry it's likely that the weight overall is the same and it doesn't stick out from my waist in its carry pouch like the other does. Larger carry pouches, and larger batteries and chargers, also weigh more than smaller ones.