Resolution

What did you do new year's eve? I made travel plans.*

After a month "under the weather"** I will have to do some serious work to be ready for travel. Thus walking every day will be required...at least a mile or so...up hill and down...until my stamina is rebuilt. My goal is 5 easy miles by March.

The dogs were at the vet this a.m. so DH and I took a stroll on our own - down to the park and back (about 2 miles). We saw no animals.*** We read the warning signs and behaved, staying on the road and wandering back uphill - all the way home.

We aren't walking this way.

The weather was crisp and cool. We wore jackets, hats, and gloves. Still the bright sunshine warmed us up by the time we were done.

By 9 a.m. the winter sun is blindingly bright.

The crazy weather has stripped the leaves from the trees, but allowed some hardy plants to continue their bloom.

One red rose blooming in a neighbor's yard.

It's a stunner.

 We welcomed the new year as we shook the dust of the old from our boots.
 

NOTES:

* We are none of us fond of resolutions. If I am resolved to do anything, it is to sit less and do more.

** I had a virus that wouldn't go away. It was an endless cold - no fever, no aches, just congested and tired.

*** No wild ones anyway - we saw one yellow tabby we know is a relative of the stray yellow tom who followed us home 16 years ago.

Usually a couple of dogs bark as we walk past this house. Still it is a house of cats. There always seem to be a few around, prowling the bushes or relaxing on the cars.

This guy just watched as we walked by.

Final note: It's been windy.

We found damage on some of the bleachers. It wasn't clear if this was wind or vandalism.

This bur oak acorn cap was a witness to some big wind. There are no bur oaks anywhere around the patch of grass where we found this guy. It must have been blown from the woods a good distance away.