It’s the week before the winter solstice, and the weather is magnificent.
It totally made up for last week’s blah hike, and I had a lot of fun playing with light,
shadow,
and texture.
We stopped for a moment to “rescue” a winter moth (Operophtera brumata), another invasive species in Massachusetts.
“Look, Mom!” said my son. “I warmed it up enough in my hands that it could fly away!”
One thing I can’t impart via a blog post is the smell in the woods that morning. Both kids remarked on it as soon as we got out of the car. It had rained the day before and now it was sunny and windy and in the low 50’s and it smelled more strongly of sweetness and earth than we’ve smelled in a long time.
“It’s like how you don’t notice how your house smells until you’ve been gone for a long time. Then you come home and it smells so good!” reflected my daughter. (I’m glad to hear that she thinks the house smells good when we get home from a long trip. I’m not always sure, but I can agree that it certainly smells like home.)
So, we breathed deeply and walked quickly, keeping pace with the wind as it ruffled our hair and snuck into the gaps in our clothes and raised ripples on the surface of the river.
Next week, the days begin to get longer. Happy Solstice!
Imperfect Happiness 