Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign...
The brilliant colors of this stop sign and road sign caught my eye while out for a snowshoe a few weekends ago. This was at the intersection of US-41 and Ojibway road, where I was wandering around, exploring the old Ojibway Mine ruins. With that in mind...

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Heading to Ojibway,
Exploring the mine.
Stop here on the snow,
can't you read the sign?

Burning Branch

A branch at the Clark solstice party, 2008.
Each year, my parents have a little party on the night of the winter solstice: they clear a spot in the driveway, set up a grate and barrel, and have a lovely bonfire to scare away the winter. This is a close-up from this year's bonfire, which I was (luckily) able to attend!

And the bonfire burned burned burned,
and we're the ones that set it!
It burned burned burned,
and the cold wind ran and cried.
Yes it burned burned burned,
but things were very chilly --
And the pine branches burned like a whole bunch of very flammable things,
in the winter solstice fire!

Bonus points for those who can name the song I just slaughtered.

First Snow

Hang on!If you like my photos, you might like a print on your wall!
Winter finally started this weekend. Down here in the valley, the snow started on Friday night and didn't stop until late on Sunday. We got about 2-3 inches in the end, and it's actually stuck around for a few days.

To enjoy the snow, I made a trip up to the cliffs on Saturday. There's nothing quite like standing in a quiet forest with snow coming down all around you. While I was there, I found this leaf just barely hanging on to an otherwise bare tree.

It looks like the snow will melt this week -- it never really sticks until Thanksgiving. But until then I'll enjoy the remains of the first snow.

And now some silliness:

I'm singin' in the snow
Just singin' in the snow!
What a glorious feeling,
it's 20 below...
-- Garrison Keillor

Stairway

Stairway to fuel-oil
Like this? You can order a print!

There's a feeling I get when I head to campus
And the temperature outside is freezing
In my thoughts I have seen radiators full of steam
And I've heard all their clanging and pinging.