If you like walks and bird-watching...

On the first of December K.J. wanted to go on a morning walk.  I wanted to go with him but wasn't quite ready so he said, "I'll go now and walk clock-wise around the park; you come when you're ready and walk counter-clock-wise, and we'll be sure to meet."  And so that is what we did.

It worked out well for us because it gave us each some moments walking alone and also some time to spend talking.  In these pandemic days, these are our dates.

Since I was meeting K.J., I didn't bring my earbuds along to listen to music or a podcast, and my walk through the town and the misty morning park was quiet.  The silence is good for my soul.  I've been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis with E for school, and you can see how much emphasis monks in that time period put on quiet and withdrawal.  I can't help but think we need times of silence in this world of constant access to information even more than in those 15th century days  

My quiet mind gives space for me to notice the gold-domed tops of the trees hanging on to their leaves amidst all the bare branches of the crowd.

I spent some time watching this black bird fly low over the water the week before, and a quick Google this morning told me it was a cormorant.  I asked K.J. to walk toward him so I could take a picture of him in flight.  Ever the good photography assistant, he obliged, and it was satisfying to watch him spread his wings and dive into the water for a morning swim.  

There's a gaggle of geese (how fun is that to say?) that live in our park, and we got a big kick out of watching them wander to the pool in a line, jumping in one after another in an orderly manner.

Here's our cormorant friend back for his swim.

And the award for farthest traveled goes to this seagull who flew in on some salty breeze.  

I was happy I brought my big camera with me because there were some spots I'd been wanting to take pictures of that my phone can't quite capture, like the steeple of the church framed between these two trees and the rooftops of our little town.  We've had a string of cold days since just before Thanksgiving, and you can often see smoke billowing up out of a chimney or two.  This was a perfect walk to welcome December.