One sure thing about freeze/thaw cycles is that it means river ice is ever-changing. So even with multiple return visits, you see something different every time.

One sure thing about freeze/thaw cycles is that it means river ice is ever-changing. So even with multiple return visits, you see something different every time.
In 2022, I'm relaunching a monthly feature: Nearby Nature Project. Articles will focus on nearby nature, such as planter pots, gardens, yards, neighbourhood and nearby parks/trails. Each story will include at least one link to an interesting article or research study, YouTube, podcast, nature-related app, book, course or other materials. And I'll share a nearby nature subject that caught my attention over the past month.
The Photo Blogging Challenge theme for February 2021 is I Spy With My Eye, which lends itself to pretty much anything. I am grateful that during these ongoing COVID times, host PJ is choosing themes that make it easy to participate from anywhere. We are spending most of our COVID time in beautiful Canmore, Alberta, Canada, where we enjoy getting out and about for exercise and a daily dose of Vitaming N(ature). With health guidelines keeping us close to home for the past year, we appreciate that photography prompts us to keep a sharp eye out for new subject matter and new takes on the familiar.
The first 2021 photo blogging challenge theme is appropriate on many levels: change and hope. On the COVID-19 front, one big change is the development, approval and pending delivery of effective vaccines. Canada has little to no sovereign vaccine-making capacity, so availability is limited and roll out is slow. But we hope every resident of Canada has access to COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021. Then we can all get on with figuring out the new normal. We hope it will be good and we know it will be changed from pre-COVID.
Over the past twenty years or so, our Christmas celebrations have shifted away from presents towards presence. This year our celebrations included preparing and enjoying several meals with extended family and friends, movie and board game nights with our young adult sons, and plenty of nature walks for the two of us! It was a Merry Christmas, indeed!