The Beauty of Winter

Sometimes, my friends will ask me, "Laura, how do you come up with something to post in your blog twice a week?"

It's not always easy. Sometimes it is -- sometimes I'm bursting with ideas to the point where I consider adding a Saturday post to the rotation so I don't forget stuff over the weekend. Other times, like today, I just sit and look at the monitor and can't come up with a thing and wonder why exactly I started this blog in the first place.

(Of course, we know the answer to that question...)

If I'm desperate, usually I procrastinate. I check things like my beloved TV Tropes for ideas, or prowl the forum at Blistered Thumbs under the guise of just doing my moderatorial duty when in fact I'm secretly combing the threads for post ideas. Facebook and Twitter have each given me a share of ideas too.

Occasionally I'll bluff, which I guess is what I'm doing now. Instead of preaching or prattling, I thought today I would show off some of my other alleged talent; in this case, photography. In a recent post, I complained about the surplus of winter weather my region has been experiencing, of which we are still reluctantly partaking, and so to counteract what negativity I have shown toward the season, here are some of my photographs of the prettier side of the cold. I received a wonderful new camera as a Christmas gift from my parents, and I've been exercising it frequently. While I go put on a fourth layer of socks, please enjoy some of my favorite wintry pictures from this month. I originally tried simply inserting the photos into the narrative, but they're awfully large and I didn't feel like taking the time to resize each one, so instead, just click on the links to view them.

My parents have a pair of cardinals who live at their house year-round, and this is the male, enjoying what fell out of the bird feeder.

The female, meanwhile, watches the situation from a nearby pine tree.

In addition to the cardinals, there's a resident pair of jays, one of whom has a marked fondness for eating upside down.

A close-up of some of the plant life remaining in my side yard. The snow wasn't quite deep enough to cover this, but the ice gives it an interesting look.

Same plant, different angle. This part juts out over the edge of the concrete border of the yard.

In my mind, I refer to this photogenic little guy as "Captain Jack." Cookies to you if you understand why.

Icicles on my next-door neighbor's front porch. I just thought they looked cool...no pun intended.