Winter Walk at Sunset

Fiesta's favorite past time, mulching sticks

This afternoon, I went for a walk beyond our property, across the ravine and onto our neighbor's land. There's a thick layer of ice on top of the snow that made every step an effort. Step. Crunch. Step. Crunch. Step. Step. Crunch. Our dog Fiesta is a real snow beast and even though she is getting older and sometimes moves like a table sliding across the floor, she always wants to go. She kept up with me despite the fact that she too broke through the snow every few steps.

As we crunched along, we sent the deer running. I'm sad that we disturbed them but it was exciting to see how quiet and graceful they move. They stood on the ridge and eyed us suspiciously. We scrambled up the slope following their tracks and sent them further into the woods.

It was a beautiful sunset and I took some photos, perhaps some images that will inspire Peter; weeds poking through the snow with the distant hills illuminated by the setting sun.

We received a nice email from one of Peter's former workshop students, Grace Hopwood. She wrote, "I just came in from taking pictures of a winter sunset over a farm at the top of my drive and I thought of you two. I have lived here for 22 years and have never painted a winter scene, and probably never would have if it weren't for Peter's gorgeous paintings."