27 January, 2019            Slim Pickens or “trust the process”

I haven’t gotten a million great images this month. Not even by my standards of “great images,” which are normally not real great. It’s been “slim pickings,” although I used the late actor’s name (Slim Pickens). It’s also “or ‘trust the process'” because some Sundays I’ll sit in front of this computer with a blank space between my ears. Where a blog post is supposed to already be. So I have to go back over the pictures I’ve taken this week and “trust the process.” 

There’s nothing to be proud of about this one, except it’s always fun to see a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) at close range standing still. At least for a moment. In the partially frozen bird bath outside my office window yesterday:

Northern Flicker in a frozen bird bath

And of course I can’t go a week without a raptor. This Red-tail was perched in the swamp on the edge of Patterson Avenue Wednesday morning:

I love Red-tails on church crosses and cell phone towers. But natural settings are gorgeous

Mackey and Turner and I paid our first visit ever to Larus Park off Huguenot Road in Richmond Thursday. It’s a small, out of the way park but worth a visit – we’ll be back soon. Probably this week. Here’s Mackey and Turner in the park. Big rocks! Fun hiking:

Mackey (left), Turner (right) in front of big rocks at Larus Park Thursday

Here’s Mackey and Turner this morning, along with Yuki, at Pony Pasture:

Mackey, Yuki and Turner this morning in their “natural habitat” at Pony Pasture

We’ve already got bulbs coming up – and it’s still January. I photographed these three yesterday (January 26). I’ll keep following them here. Possibly it’s wishful thinking on my part, but I sense spring is more imminent than it normally is in late January. A week from today will be the first Sunday in February! It feels like the frogs will be singing any second at Pony Pasture. We’ll see. Maybe one more hard freeze first. But here are three bulbs from our yard:

Bulb 1 – week 1

Bulb 2 – week 1

Bulb 3 – week 1

Not gorgeous photography. But I think they’ll become more beautiful in the coming weeks. Begin to show some color. 

Lest I forget this is still January. I scratched this in the ice on the inside of our garage window Tuesday morning. She planted those bulbs:

The frost on this window will be LONG gone when her bulbs bloom. Hopefully very soon!

Have a great week! See you in February! All best,

Jay