Out walking in the new year.

Long shadows cast in the piercing late morning light, vines and deciduous trees bare, a lovely wintery landscape in the mountains of Northern California.

Jeff , Emma & I are out greeting the new year with cheer,  walking up and down watery rocky roads of the back country.  Bare trees and fresh grass bursting out from last year’s growth, and water springing out of the ground . . .

Here Jeff watches a huge flock of doves explode noisily  into the air. . .

(Seems to me dogs rarely look up into the sky, but always into the bush !)

Other things we saw :

lots of ice on the ground . . .

deeply grooved erosion from water, in the mossy banked soft rock along the country road.

( We’ve had torrential downpours in the last weeks.)

Whipping in the breeze, the colorful flags still flying in the meadow along the canyon precipice,

releasing prayers to the wind . . .

First blossoms of winter !

the manzanita’s pink heart-shaped buds . . .

A little bright wool resting on the grey bare vines !

This perhaps me knitting while hiking, satchels slung to each side, holding two colors being knit into another ( yes still another) pin-striped fingerless mitt. Even Jeff commented at the end of our hike how impressed he was that I was able to knit while walking over some of the terrain we just had. Well, I’ve had lots of practice in recent months !

Happy New Year All !!!