Ice-Cold Beauty

"It ain't over till it's over," comes to mind quite often in the winter time, especially when we are watching Gonzaga basketball games.  

We've learned over the years not to get too excited, even in the final ten seconds, when the ZAGS are ahead by only 10 points. Much can happen in ten seconds in basketball. 

Same is true with winter in North Idaho.  

We've been spoiled a bit over the past couple of weeks, i.e., lots of melting, one day of shirt sleeve weather, frequent appearances from the sun, and, of late, a lot more areas to walk.  

The scent of spring has been teasing us. 

Temps have been pretty cold lately, which I don't mind, especially now that we have lost a lot of the snow.  

Nothing feels better than to go for a long brisk walk in the cold air over dry ground without fear of stumbling, slipping or sliding. 

For daredevils, the latter two can be accomplished by choice these days cuz we do have a LOT of ice where standing water in swales, ditches other low areas froze over the past couple of days. 

These sheets of ice create a pretty scene, especially when the sun bounces off it in the late afternoon, leaving a glistening effect. 

So, yes, today's photos focus on some of the icy creations around the neighborhood.  

The nice part about this ice is that we have choices:  we do not have to pick our steps to avoid falling because we now have enough other bare ground for enjoying our wallks. 

That said,  it still ain't over till it's over, which seems to be obvious today because the weather people are predicting heavy snow overnight. 

So, there's a bit of urgency this morning to get out there and walk, walk, walk and to even use that rake, purchased yesterday at Co-Op Country Store. 

I broke my big lawn rake last fall after that initial winter blast, trying to clean up all the leaves that had blown all over the yard.

And, because of the heavy snow which has fallen off and on throughout the winter, a couple of the big evergreen trees in the yard have dropped thousands and thousands of mini branches to the ground, creating thick evergreen carpets in large circles around the trees.

So, with the bare-ground opportunity at hand, I brought home a rake and started sweeping up the mini limbs into piles.  Today, I'll do my best to haul them off to the woods, while I still can. 

Tomorrow, the shovels, snowblower and plow will have to step to the plate one more time (we HOPE only one more time) to provide us another set of skinny walking trails until the next big meltdown. 

And, so the cycle goes.  We can't wait for winter to be over, but we must cuz, after years and years and years of similar cycles, we know it ain't over till it's over. 

And, to sustain ourselves as we wait, there's always the possibility of taking more pretty pictures. 

Enjoy.  Happy Tuesday.