When I walked into my class yesterday, I announced in typical obvious fashion, "It's cold outside!"
One of my students remarked that he had started to say "It's refreshingly brisk outside" instead of "it's cold" because then it sounded less like complaining and more like "it's a beautiful day outside." My students, by the way, are such an encouragement to me on living a better life.
I laughed and admitted he was right. I didn't need to be complaining about the weather.
This morning, as the outdoors temp hovered around 30 degrees, it was another refreshingly brisk day. There was frost on the ground, and as the girls and I piled into the car to take Sydney to school, Jules asked if she could run out and touch the frost, "Because it's so beautiful!"
Oh, that Jack Frost. He does some beautiful work.
True, I'm not a regular rejoicer at the cold weather, but with a little effort I can find ways to appreciate it. And one of the easiest ways is to get my camera out and capture it.
As soon as we got back home after the school drop-off, I strapped Addie into the Ergo, grabbed three stocking hats and my camera, and headed out the door. And one more thing: I gave Jules my Droid to use as her camera. When kids play side by side but not necessarily with each other, it's called parallel play.
When Jules and I wander the garden taking pictures of whatever catches our fancy? I call it parallel photography.
Before we were even three steps past the door, Jules was already snapping pictures of her new sweater.
After several blurred photos, I tweaked the camera settings so that it would be a little more forgiving of little hands that have trouble holding still.
Jules was nervous about the frost disappearing before we could get pictures of it. "Hurry Mama!" she'd yell as she sprinted down the driveway. "Don't want it all to melt!" Fortunately the frost held out long enough.
Ever wondered what a frozen board looks like?
Wonder no more.
We have some kind of evergreen bush near the house that has dozens of cobweb blankets on it. The past few mornings, Jules and I have talked about how the blankets look like fairy hammocks. I tried to capture the fairy hammocks with my camera, but I couldn't quite get it.
Jules took a shot.
It's hard to see much, but there near the lower left corner is a fairy hammock. Jules and I will keep trying to capture the elusive shot.
From the driveway down to the garden, we chatted back and forth about things of beauty. This time of year one of the things I love looking at are the blueberry bushes. October always finds the blueberry bushes giving their swan song.
They may not have any autumn crop to brag about, but what they lack in bounty, they make up for in a blaze of glory.
Eventually, our fingers started turning numb, and Addie began voicing her displeasure at the freezing temps. We grabbed one last shot of the corn.
Mine:
Jules's:
I like Jules's better, don't you?
One quick task of helping Grandma haul the trashcans out to the road, and then we were back inside holding warm mugs of hot cocoa.
Cold mornings may not trump warm mornings, but this is the day that was given to us. No sense letting it go to waste.
