They all wore red

It wasn't exactly a lazy morning, but we took it easy. I let DH sleep. He had a longer day yesterday than I did. And I cannot seem to sleep past 5:30 no matter what.

About 8:00 we decided that we would need to walk or else we would run into the bad weather expected for the day (little did we know that the storm had somehow slowed). The day was overcast and a cool breeze (from the east?) chilled us.

I had chosen a bright red fleece jacket. DH fought the zipper on one jacket and then switched to another - this one red. [We are in negotiations about jackets. How many jackets does one person need?] Most of his are earth tones - drab. I like the red.

Lots of dogs were up and out and let us know all about it as we walked down our street. Paddy fretted. We crossed the street when necessary to avoid an unattended barker.

The park was quiet. Probationers picked up trash at the far edge along the river. Another dog walker crossed the field.

The man was walking his dog off-leash (it is something we could do once, but not anymore - Scruff is fairly good, but Paddy no longer listens). That pup was well behaved, but we still kept a tight hand on our guys. The man got closer. The red sleeves of his shirt peeked out of a vest. "I think that's BP," I said. About then our friend and neighbor looked up and waived.  And they headed home.

I stopped to take a photo of an interesting insect. DH thought I was "collecting" it. You cannot blame him for thinking this after years of insect hunts and too many crawlers left (extras) in whole or in parts in our freezer (9th grade biology project - 9th grade was a long time ago). "I am just collecting his photo, babe," I said. He gave a little grunt of affirmation and kept walking.

I was lagging behind doing hundetoilette duties and looked up to see DH stopped and staring at a car.

He was reading one of those stick figure signs - a guy with a computer and some nonsense.

Once we arrived at the park we were greeted by this little fellow.

We haven't seen many insects this crazy winter. This guy was lovely if you really look at his markings (I don't usually get this close to one of these guys...just creepy).

We edged the woods. Because there is no question about the "no trespassing" postings, we avoid the dirt road. Darn. I miss that walk. I miss the meadows. I miss the deer hiding in the tall grass or making noise in the woods.

This tree shows signs of an infestation of mistletoe.

I cannot tell if it is the mistletoe that causes the "joints" (don't know what else to call the place where limbs join the trunk) to be bloated and oddly formed.

A boy and his dogs headed off to the end of the park while I stopped at the holly for photos.

Deciduous holly wears its red berries.

The only bit of color in the park.

Love this pecan.

I had not noticed this large nest in this park (but have just seen a number of them at the wildlife area).

A closeup.

And they all come back...no deer to be seen anywhere. We were really too late for deer.

And then we headed home...