New York: Day 5

This is my favorite part of the forest. It reminds me of so many places. The first glimpse of Narnia in the Lion, The Witch and the Wardwrobe, the silent deadly forest in the Ardennes where the battle for Bastogne occurred in Band of Brothers, and the "Forest cathedral" described in the Red Badge of Courage.  It's a storybook kind of place. The snow makes it absolutely enchanting to walk around in.

This is my church.

There was no sign of anything living out here. It's as if the whole place is sleeping. It's silent, wonderful and dreamy. Absolute peace and tranquility. Due to the total absence of moving creatures, I guess I should be working on macro shots instead.

Some berry things on a branch.

These are some odd flowering plant that never loses its flowers. They just turn brown and dry up in the cold and then turn pink again in the spring. They grow in clumps like this.  Everywhere in this forest, one gets a sublime sense of not dead, but a sort of dormant beauty. Just patiently waiting for spring.

I like to brush these pine branches with my hand and watch the soft powder fall to the ground in a tiny blizzard.

This is an exposed hillside where the wind constantly blows from one direction. Look at how the snow is on the side of all the trees. It's magical.

These pines make an indescribable sound when they flex in the wind. Sometimes it sounds like a groaning or a screech. Other times you hear sharp cracks like rifle shots. It can be startling if you're unfamiliar with the sound.

Something passed by here. I didn't leave these tracks.  It might be a "coyote-dog". Grandma's woods is home to a pack of coyotes that mate with stray dogs. Sometimes I can hear them howling as it gets dark.

Still no luck with the infrared scout camera. We think the extreme cold is making it shut itself down. (It dropped to 5 last night).  I moved it indoors and put it near the bathroom window, but that also failed. The infrared flash bounces off the window and back at the lens, making the whole scene a whiteout.  I guess I'll have to use it when I come back up in the summer.  What a bummer.But at least we know it works, as I captured my own face a few times when I was trying to reset it.

We were going to come home tomorrow, but there is yet another lake-effect snowstorm on its way... so we will just have to come home sunday.   I have been doing some sketches and keeping my blogs updated though.  Tonight I am already in my PJs, sipping some hot tea and watching Cold Mountain.

One more day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.