I've been inspired to go back and play with some older photos that I like a lot, but could've been better. I really like the Snapseed app, which I got for free when it was the app of the week, or free from Starbucks, or something. It has an HDR filter, which you can control the level of so the pix don't look too unreal. It's kind of fun to see old favorites in a new light.







So I guess, for now, this is my new photo project. Since the weather's been pretty gloomy lately, getting out to take new ones has been unappealing, to say the least. Today's weather was really strange: warm (for January) and periods of fierce downpours, with a weird bright yellowish sky just before sunset. Still, better than it would've been if it had been colder; all that rain could have been a lot of snow. That would have been even less fun.

I've been trying to get out walking every day, and most days I succeed. Unless it's bone-chilling cold, or precipitating heavily, I go out for a walk. I downloaded an app that tracks my walks (Walkmeter, suggested by lamentables), and I've found that I'm walking farther than I had estimated. Yesterday I walked 3.32 miles, and I had previously estimated that route to be around 3 miles.

Today I went to the Assabet Wildlife Refuge, and estimated I had walked just over a mile. My actual distance was just over 2 miles! It also gives you your pace, time, and elevation, and even the approximate number of calories burned. But none of that really means anything to me. It's just cool to see how far I've gone.

The pond there is frozen over, and the ice was making deep, thrumming noises as the ice settled and moved. I walked out onto a fishing dock, and the noises from the ice were right below me. It sounded kind of like the noise made when you tap on the high-tension wires on utility poles, a sort of metallic pinging. The dock is metal, so maybe that's why the sound was metallic. It was very cool (no pun intended).

There were lots of little bubbles in the ice, some of them tiny.



I heard a few birds, including a very loud woodpecker of some sort. I need to work on identifying birds by their songs. I only know a few, mostly the common sort of bird you see all the time.

I found a canoe locked behind a barbed-wire-topped enclosure; I can't imagine what it must have done to be incarcerated like that. It must be a very dangerous canoe.



I spied, across the pond, a spot where I regularly visit in summer to take dragonfly & frog pictures.



It was fun to explore the other side of the pond for a change. The paths are still fairly clear, with some ice left over from the snow we had a while back. Who knows how much longer that will last? There is snow in the forecast for this weekend. It may not get this far inland, but you never know. Might as well take advantage of it while I can!