I’m not entirely sure how, but the VEB talked me into going for a hike this afternoon.  Our high today was 27 degrees and there’s snow on the ground, and normally on a day like today you would find me on the couch with a blanket and a book.  Instead I decided to be a good sport and bundle up, and we went and stomped around Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge for a solid 90 minutes.   It was cold enough to affect my camera, not to mention my hands, so there’s just a few shots to share from today:

That last one is a not very good picture of a northern flicker, which is actually a kind of woodpecker.  A bit later on we saw an enormous bird, which was either a hawk or an osprey, but just as I finally got the camera into focus the bird flew off so we don’t know for sure.  However, neither flicker nor possible osprey can top yesterday – we saw a bald eagle fly over the parking lot at our local Stop and Shop!  I saw one last summer at Acadia, sitting on a tree, but up until yesterday I had never seen one in flight, and it’s pretty cool to see their wingspan.

Other good things from this weekend:  a mango smoothie, obtained at the Winter Farmer’s market at Russell’s Garden Store in Wayland; a tasty turkey and sweet potato chile I made last night (recipe from Cooksmarts – a menu planning/recipe service we recently subscribed to); and finally taking down the Christmas tree and reclaiming our living room.  (Well, mostly reclaiming the living room – I’ve vacuumed three times and we’re still finding pine needles in the carpet…and on the cats…)  Soon there is a hot bath and a book with my name on it, and later after dinner (which the VEB is cooking!) there is chocolate cake, our reward for freezing our butts off this afternoon.  Afterwards, a cuddle with a kitty or two, then what will hopefully be a good night’s sleep before the workweek begins in the morning!