February in hindsight

After the RGV, but before the second batch of unseasonably cold weather kicked in, Matt and I explored Homestead Heritage. There were waves of hundreds of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings passing through. A smattering of Slate-colored (Dark-eyed) Juncos were down in the leaf litter with them and Matt spooked up one Hermit Thrush:



For a digi-bin photo at ~30' that's not a bad shot at all for the 5th attempt ;-)

Now, the five of you who were reading this blog back during our New Mexico adventure may recall that Matt has a fondness for green chili cheeseburgers... and Homestead Heritage has those.



...racoon tracks for kicks: that's how tempting grass fed happy-cows are. With locally produced everything. I had their tamale plate this time; last time it was jalapeno sweet potato soup. SO good.

Anyway, the first snowfall of February was a great fun for the puppy:



The second snowfall of February was just plain cold:



Matt was smart and stayed inside, but puppy caught snowballs and modeled for some snowmendogs. Even though I spent 2.5 winters in IL, I hadn't played in snow since maybe 1990 when the family ended up making snow angels in Switzerland... I vaguely recall sledding, but that could also just be due to photo albums. Regardless, I bundled up and busted out some nocturnal art:



The snow melted really quickly the next morning, so I barely had time to assemble the 3rd and final snowdog and prop up an Easter Island head. It's too bad, because I was also contemplating Snow Henge, but alas, too late.