Tuesday

          I went for a ski today the shoot some pictures, of what I'm not sure.  Birds came to mind but not to sight.  I know they're here, chickadees and woodpeckers.  The chickadees bustle about, deep in the interior of the snow bound boughs, in answer to the warming rays of the sun, or, absolutely motionless, with the fluffed out feathers of sunless times, conserving their heat against the push of the chill mountain air.

          The woodpecker has been working hard since the snow last night.  There are lots of small bits of bark on the white snow where he foraged for his morning meal.  The chickadee I hear now and then; and, I try a little bird calling, which to their ears is similar to my English in a foreign land.  But I try anyway, to no avail.

          There are plenty of rabbit tracks but where do the rabbits go?  I try to be quiet, the skis make little noise.  But in any case they want nothing to do with me.  It makes me wonder how all those wildlife shots are taken.  A ponderable point as I sit listening to the throb of the stove, melting my days water supply.

          A pretty day just the same.  The sun shyly looking down on occasion, and the trees shedding tears of relief as the warmth of the day releases their limbs of the weight of  last nights wardrobe.

          I decide to scout ahead and so ski towards the lake basin in Jefferson Park to learn the contour of the land.  I decide that, weather permitting, I'll see if I can make it there Wednesday.

          I shot some pictures as the sun was retreating from the night sky.  I do not need any animals.  There is plenty of beauty.  The problem is how can one capture on film what we not only see but also feel, hear, and smell.  I guess we can't; and, that is one reason why I am here.

          A good day, things dried out a little.  I think I will hunker down to do some reading and then eating.  I am getting hungry.