Sunday Walk

We had a nice walk along W. Shore Rd. late this afternoon. It was warmish, about 34 degrees I think, when we started off. There was sunshine, but it was rapidly dropping behind the hills. Fred took this shot to show you where the ice leaves off - sort of mid-way of the big pond - and I think we can expect some warmer weather tomorrow, so the ice may recede even more.

We stopped at camp to see son Bill for a few minutes. As we headed into the driveway, we noticed a very large Canada goose swimming out front. He kept a wary eye on us, but didn't seem to want to leave. Bill told us he'd been there all day, feeding and just hanging out in our boat access. We took pictures through the window, and pretty soon the loon swam by. Before we could get a picture, the loon dove. The goose then seemed to be watching for the loon, too, and what seemed like a really long time later we saw the loon surface far beyond the boathouse, too far away for us to get a good picture. Camera shy, I guess. The goose hung out on the thin ice, pacing back and forth doing a little skating routine with each step. It was very graceful and we wished we could have videoed him. He finally eased into the water again and continued feeding off the bottom. We wondered why there would be just one lone goose. Perhaps he'll take off tonight and join his friends somewhere south of here.

By the time we got back home darkness was closing in and the temperature had dropped below freezing again. Fred put some chunks on the fire and then we noticed the glow of the moon in the sky above the hills across from us. Fred got the picture below from our deck. There are Christmas lights over there, too. Gerry and Crystal Prevost always light up their home early, and we enjoy seeing their lights. We noticed Jeff Downs here on W. Shore Rd. has some decorations up already, too. We will miss the LaPrade's display - Andre and Sherry always had a tree outside, wreaths and candles. I suppose they'll be decorating up a storm in Florida this year.

I guess it's time to toss out the fall leaves, corn stalks and pumpkins and get in some nice fragrant spruce and pine boughs and cones. Fred says I always wait until it's snowing, cold and windy before I put up the outside Christmas lights; but I keep telling him I need the snowflakes and cold weather to get into the spirit of the season - and we do leave them up longer than most. Of course, that's mainly because the extension cords are under three or four feet of snow from December until April and besides, I think it's welcoming to have a lighted tree in the yard all winter.

It's really nice to look across at Gerry and Crystal Prevost's lights, though, and I'm sure there will be others across from us soon. In the meantime, we hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe trip home if you had to travel. Now it's time to finish up your shopping if you haven't found everything on your list - and by the way, if you haven't visited the new J.C. Penney store at the mall in St. Johnsbury yet, you should make it a point to do that.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the goose. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them.