This morning was clear – stars and the full moon lit our early morning “down the driveway” walk. Despite being -6, with no wind and dressed for the occasion – it did not feel that cold. I love moonlight shining through the woods and we had our usual dawdle back – me on the driveway and Karl on the east property perimeter.

The sun rose and the temperature with it, climbing to near zero by 10 a.m.. I might have waited for a bit more warmth, but 10 is our usual morning walk time and Karl was pestering to go, so I suited up and off we went. I took my smaller (and older!) camera, despite the temps, but it got too cold quickly. I did get a couple shots before it refused to operate..

A bit more snow on the mountains, but not as much as I expected to see. The Swan Range curves around to the north, close enough that my property was in a wind shadow for the cold wind that was blowing out of the North-Northeast. Along a corridor through Columbia Falls and Kalispell, the weather info showed winds high enough to cause the wind chill to be in the -20’s. But even on our walk there was not even a breeze high in the trees – it was quiet, sunny and beautiful.

Karl and I played a little snow soccer when we got home. I warmed up a bit inside and then went back out with camera and tripod to see if I could get a photo (quickly!) of Karl and I…. I call the procedure “the Karl and Ann rodeo” …

Thanks to a timer that will click off a number of shots after a delay, I not only got the story, but both of us almost facing the camera…

For my next trick, I will try to get the Ann, Karl and Bob Christmas photo…this usually takes the better part of a day and ends up with me needing a nap…