Looking Forward to Spring

Obviously, this photo wasn't taken recently. The leaves on the trees and the lack of snow are dead give-aways.

For all my previous rambling about what can be accomplished in winter, I really would like Spring to just hurry up and get here. If for no other reason, it's just easiuer and more comfortable to move around and enjoy oneself when bitter cold isn't an issue.

This shot is of the old... and still currently used... courthouse in Mitchell County up by the Minnesota border. It's sort of amazing than an old and dated building such as this still functions in a modern society.

While doing some research of Iowa courthouses a couple years ago, you could tell when each one across the state was constructed simply by the architectural style. In my modest opinion, almost no courthouse constructed after 1910 is worth looking at. This one dates from 1858, and is relatively simple in design, but the "grand era" of courthouse construction seemed to be between 1880 and 1910.

The New Year...

To paraphrase The Grateful Dead, "What a long strange winter it's been.". We've really only had one real good snowfall, and it has been so warm that almost everything has since melted for several days now with no significant snowfall expected for at least several days. Strange, indeed.

Not that I'm complaining, of course.

This entry's photo was taken a couple years ago at this time of year at sunrise at a nearby pond. The silhouette combined with the sunrise's reflection on the pond itself makes for a striking photo.

Now that the holidays are over we'll see what we can do to get more shots like this. And... maybe it'll snow a couple more times so we can expand our winter photo collection as well. It may be warmer than usual, but it certainly isn;t spring-like, either.

Have a good new year. :-)