Tuesday, November 18, 2008

FUN IN THE SUN

Today we enjoyed plenty of sun and a slightly lower temperature. What? The man is a masochist saying colder is more comfortable! Nope. Tiz the true gen, as a friend of mine used to say. When I took Moon-the-Dog out for her morning ramble, the thermometer read a bracing 24 degrees—ten degrees colder than yesterday. But—and this is the important “but”— therefore not nearly as damp. What would have been dampness was now frost, coating the leaves and limestone walls of the cottage, shimmering in honeyed early sunlight, and setting off my aging canine into a fit of puppy-like snarffling and rolling and wallowing, interspersed with bouts of racing about the yard. When we came back inside a few minutes later we were both breathless—Moon from her shenanigans, me from laughing…especially when she tried to make a high-speed power turn worthy of a barrel-racing quarter horse and found out sycamore leaves silvered with frost are too slippery for a pooch with clipped toenails. Anyway, that little ten-degree temperature drop, which freeze-dried the dampness, had the effect of making it feel more comfortable outside, even though it was actually colder. Which, I’m bound to admit, always surprises me a little, though at my age, I should well know better. Still, there it is—why colder felt better, and was thus more enjoyable. Of course, the gleaming sunlight, sparkling off the leaves, dancing like jewels in the riffles of the stream, and backlighting the hanging bankside boxelder keys might have had something to do with lifting my mood….

2 comments:

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Those Boxelder keys certainly are beautiful, the way you've caught them with light filtering from behind.
Very nice.

Grizz………… said...

Thank you. I've always liked backlit subjects and scenes—though I could doubtless have done better if I'd have taken a bit more time with this one instead of dashing from my desk, making a shot or two, and dashing back indoors to finish a project under deadline. Not really n valid excuse, of course.

BTW, I'm still trying to figure out some of these blogging basics (old dog and new tricks, you understand) so if I'm slow to respond, it isn't because I didn't appreciate the comment and your time in making it.