I don't know what struck me about birds recently.  I think it was the silhoutte on the bare branches.  Then I just played with the idea.  I really like the first two drawings.  The bright blue line of sky in the first and the personalities of the birds in the second.

Winter has caught up to us.  We've had warm weather long into November, so when the snow came this weekend it caught us all off guard. It's unusual to see so much color along side snow, leaves are usually long gone by that time.  This year is different and the contrast is beautiful.

Winter has arrived and to my surprise it put me in a happy mood.

It's that time of year again, the ride home from work in the dark.  That means it's time to see the city in shades of deep blue, layering the dark buildings against the darker sky, office lights glowing like stars, twisting lines of red and white traffic.  The world takes on a new feel when the light fades.

It's been remarkably warm for November so this darkness seems sudden and out of place.  It doesn't feel like winter at all, but all too soon it will.  The inevitable snow will make it look like winter too.

Earlier this year, I tried to set myself on the Path of Beauty.  Part of that is living in harmony with your surroundings.  Up here in the north that means coming to terms with winter. 

Soon a thin sheet of ice will form over the lakes, creating interesting patterns as it thickens.  Then snow will fall allowing a play of light and shadow on it's blank canvas. Winter treats us to beautiful pink and orange sunrises and sunsets too.

This summer I did a good job of taking advantage of the lakes on the handful of hot days we had.  Swimming in the cool water and soaking up the sun on the sandy shore.  This winter I'm hoping to learn cross country skiing and snowshoeing.  I like the idea of skiing on the now frozen lake that I was swimming in during summer.  And it will give me a chance to explore the woods in a new way.   It's time to get the boots...and wait for the snow.

So here's to trying to walk in beauty, even if the path is icy.

One of my photos is on the cover of the October 2015 "Prehospital and Disaster Medicine" issue. 

This year I've started putting together more interesting sketchbook pages.  I really enjoy it, laying different images together.  Sometimes a theme, others unrelated.  You can see from these that I'm also fond of using thumbnails for rough sketches.  They work well for framing ideas. 

Here are a few of the pages I've put together this year.