Really?

When I got up this morning (at 5:30 a.m. on my day off) and saw all the heavy wet snow weighing down the pine branches and sticking to the leafless trees, I thought it may make for a photo worthy morning. But, as I sat in the old lazy boy sipping my tea and watching "Sweet 16" on MTV, I realized the sun was in no mood to help sparkle the snow, so we both lazied our Saturday morning. While doing what I do and googling to help wake up my mind, the fog decided to lend a hand and change up my photography expectations. I geared up in double fleece, opted for jeans rather than pajama pants and, with fingerless gloves on and camera in hand, ventured an early moring walk (definitely not usually a choice I make).

Just me, the trees, the breeze and the birds, I experienced a full sensory morning. Thunump, thunump as the snow slid off the branches and joined the layer on the ground. Cherurp, caw, cherurp, caw, caw as the birds all awakened to a hazy morning with all there green taken back. Spleoop, spleoop---spleoop, spleoop as my boots hit warm pavement under melting slushy snow. Hu-ho, hu-ho, hu-ho as I huffed on my trek back to the house, and realized I am quite out of shape thanks to an extra long winter.

Finger tips frozen and a caterpillar shocked by a fall from a snowy tree branch, I share with you my end-of April U.P. morning. If I was a fist shaker, I'd be shaking it at the weather man who forecasted 60 degrees and sunny tomorrow.

I'm not Sure the Beach Should Smell like a Port 'o Potty

I won't go into detail about the smell and I definitely won't share Mike's possible logical explanation (the theory would gross you out a bit), but it did smell strangely like sewage and chemicals at this off the road drive-up beach access.

How I long for every day to be a Bayfield Friday, but those silly gas prices and this whole "having to work to financially survive thing" really breaks into those excursions. If you were in and around our great state of Michigan this weekend and didn't take full advantage of the warm temps and mostly sunny days, then maybe you really do have a strong affection for snow and cold. As for me and my crew, we headed to Bayfield on Friday. Temps. around 60 and sun, sun, sun, sun made a great, true spring day. We stopped at Mike's favorite coffee shop, Big Water, and I had a peach blossom white tea and split a Chocolate Lavender scone with Cindy. Awesome and Fabulous at the same time. A few new books from the bookstore, a new Lole hat, a pocket full of jelly bellys, and a 1/2 hour at the playground is a great day, especially after you leave the mystery smell beach.

Wooly Worms and Want-a-bees

Looky, looky, I'm out of hibernation like the wooly worms.

Here are pics from my first true family walk since returning to the world of employment. To say I've been busy would be correct. To say I work too much, also correct. To say I really miss photographing and blogging would be the truest statement yet.

Woolly worms are out and cattail seeds are striving to separate themselves from their tethers.

Please enjoy these first images of the 2010/2011 U.P. winter that I've captured, although rather late in the game and hopefully I'll have spring pics next week or so.

Here's my inspirational motto for the week: "Keep crawling woolly worm!"