Muddy Shoes and an Owl at Nelson Lake Marsh

We went back to the marsh to find those owls again ... and only one complied. This guy is definitely a Great Horned Owl. He was just hanging out in a tree, watchin for snacks, and he also kept checking over his shoulder to see what we were up to.

Saturday was a gorgeous psyche-out springy day and all the snow and ice was melting. We had to wade through a few spots on the trail, and as we headed back the water had risen a bit.

Also saw -- white-tailed deer (2), red-tailed hawk (1), northern flicker (1), canadian goose (a zillion, mostly overhead)

And we drove up and down the Fox River looking for winter ducks, but all we saw were mallards and those canadian geese.

Snow-Shoein' Nelson Lake Marsh

Today we went for a snowshoe walk around the nature preserve of Jason's childhood. We circumnavigated the entire lake. We saw very few birds, and even fewer people. And we saw owls, which completely rocked. Jason thinks they were long-earred owls since he's seen them there before, but we'll need to go back to confirm it. One was even carrying prey in its talons. The lake was frozen solid and the marsh grasses were smothered under snow. All was beautiful and quiet.

Jason picked me a bouquet of freeze-dried marsh and prairie grasses and forbs, which now adorns my door. Some people would think that it's lame to give a gal a bouquet of dead flowers. Those people are dumb.

Lost in our Food

Lately we've been getting together Wednesday nights to watch Lost. And sometimes we cook. Check out this kick-butt chicken marsala we made from our romantic Cooking for Two cookbook. The best part is drinking the marsala wine while cooking. At 18% alcohol content, whatever you make doesn't even have to taste good at the end. But it did anyway.

Inuit Kiss

A record has been set in our relationship this morning: at minus 21 degrees Fahrenheit, today is the coldest day of our two-year relationship. Luckily, our morning kiss took place indoors!

Canada Collage

A few pics from our trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls ...

Dr. Frankencookie

Jason is the Tim Burton of Christmas cookies.

Natural Beauty

A yellow-rumped warbler is hanging out on the ledges of the herbarium windows this morning. He or she has been chirping, pooping, pooping, chirping on them since about 8. It is now 9:30. I got very close to the window and watched her until she flew away; she’s come back a few times since.

In consequence, all the electrons in my body have gone crazy-wild with excitement. My brain is filled with curiosity and awe. What a feeling! And the best part: it’s going to last for hours. One little bird! I guess the things I find most beautiful and special in the world reside in nature….

But there is one exception:

Whenever I’m with Kelly, similar feelings tend to arise in me. She is the first, and only, person to achieve such a distinct level of my admiration. Some people call their significant others angels from heaven. Kelly is not an angel from heaven. She is an angel from God’s green earth, as unique and beautiful as anything Mother Nature has ever come up with.