Not Far

Sunshine began to
appear at noon as promised.
It will be short lived.

~ carliewired

I puttered this morning with my large coffee in hand. At 11 I thought I should have a look outside to see if I had any work to be done on the driveway. Sure enough! The city plow had been by to leave a 2 foot windrow across the driveway. It was turned to concrete with the freezing temperatures we now have. I had to take a shovel to move the frozen cap and fling the snow to the side. I managed to reduce the heap so I had some chance to back over it with my truck. 

I gathered up my camera and was on my way to McArthur Island for a look at the slough. As I drove in, I spotted a pair of young does feeding near the east entrance. I parked near the Butterfly Garden to discover a very different kind of butterfly was there today. A group of youngsters and their adult supervisors were milling about. They had arrived well dressed for the -6 C temperature. A tarp had been spread on the ground and their backpacks had been arranged on top of it in the snow. I listened to the conversations as I walked by. There seemed to be a lot of cranky, crabby dialogue. I couldn't help thinking that it's a good thing that the holidays start this Friday. Everyone needs a break! 

I walked to the foot bridge to see that the ducks were all gone. The slough was completely frozen over leaving no open water for them. I wondered where they'd  all be now. 

I moved my truck to the south side to have a look to the Thompson River and a look over to my mountains. The Canada geese were in great numbers, both on the playing fields and on the river. It wasn't until I was about to drive away that I saw a small band of six ducks hunkered down in the parking lot. Where did the rest go? 

I was happy to return home to warm up with a pot of tea. I'm in for the day with my fabric and a crock of soup on the go.

We might expect a high of -4 C today with a chance of flurries overnight.