Winter Comes to Wisconsin

Winter has descended.  I've been cold and the air has been damp for months but now it is official.  I spent less than ten minutes taking pictures at the park and my hands froze in pain.  19 degrees.  I had forgotten what that felt like.  

We're supposed to be tired of shoveling and complaining about snow at this point.  The temperatures have been 25 degrees warmer than normal this past week alone.  We're six weeks away from March.  I found myself searching for the nearest Spring getaways the other day.  I didn't know what I was getting away from.

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.  

--William Blake

So now that the snow and truly cold temperatures are here, I can just enjoy.   When it's dark by 5 pm, there is a lot more TV watching and just less activity in general.  I feel a bit guilty about this but now, I can just enjoy.  The icy, hazardous Wisconsin winter is here.  It's brutally cold and snowy out, you say?  I better just curl up under my laptop and watch Netflix while the stormy winds howl.

And now there will be bright, fluffy snow photography to sink into for a couple of months.  

My plan has been to capture the seasons in a few choice spots in my town.  But there has to be a clear division of seasons to pull that off.  

So this is what International Gardens looks like in winter.  And soon we'll find out what the La Crosse River Marsh looks like in winter.  Now that we can all go enjoy winter in our local nature spots.  

So as I watch the light, puffy snowflakes fall outside my window, I'm thinking about just enjoying winter.  No big effort at teaching or learning, just preserving energy, staying warm and engaging in some good old-fashioned Wisconsin winter sports.  We're taking off for a little x-country skiing weekend.  The time has come.  So enjoy everyone.