destination: empty, beach dunes.
at last (yes, really, that smaller than small white spec is the owl)
some wintertime fun. the three of us... amidst the brisk beach conditions... with binoculars in hand... moving at nature's pace... hoping for a rare snowy owl encounter. wandering the dunes, looking around, letting our eyes adjust. so exposed to the season's elements that we can't help but be aware of winter's presence... and we embrace it. feel the cold. breath it in. you know, when the snowy owls fly down from the arctic to our beach, we're so there (we heard there had been some sightings this year — they haven't made an appearance here in five winters). yes, excited at the news of their return we swung by our beach last weekend. surrounded by the chilly open environment, that is the winter home to this nomadic creature, we enjoyed the moments that only winter can offer. so sure that this is definitely not something we can do here in july/august/etc... when these guys are back up north. eventually, we spotted one, white as a clump of snow, close through the binocular lens (so much better than my camera lens could capture!)... turning it's head, quietly sitting on the cold ground. reminding us that yes, winter's here and even though it 's a bit cold it's still oh-so good out there.
and once we were back inside our winter home? this experience was now inspiration for drawing pictures, owl facts, making a book (you can imagine), requests for reading this and this from our book shelf and now even seeing if i can track down this book at one of the local libraries.