Signs of winter...

With the snow of the season having found it's way to the ground or plopped upon buildings and trees and light standards or sitting primly upon wrought-iron seats, other hints of winter show themselves around the city too.

Ravens.

They're b-a-a-a-a-ck.

"cuhlwerp" "gulwarp" "bulaworlp".

Dang. I wished I knew what they were saying. Their sound is so unusual, so gutteral and yet a sound that says "Ya' wan' a clean-up goin' on fer ya now.....ya' calld' da'rite guy....see? I do da' odd and da' bad kina' t'ings....ya know? Ya wanna' mak'a mess all ovr' da' place.....I'm here ta' eat everyting' ya' can trow at me, see???"

And they do.

They cruise. They soar. They fly. They hop and jump. They even kind of skip. They're acrobatics and garbage pickers. They're smart and wily. They're survivors and clowns.

Ya, "they're so........Raven".:-)

Another indicator of a changing season of course is our river. The North Saskatchewan River.

The reflections of trees and bridges and lights will soon be no more....replaced by the harsh and barren snow-covered ice. I don't miss the river reflections until of course, I can't take reflective pictures any more. That day is soon upon us. The open water of the river is narrowing quickly and with the next cold snap will have closed the gap for another long, frozen five months.

So there is snow, ravens and ice.

I suppose there are other signs of winter too.....like my fingers being constantly blue, my skin pealing off in layers, not being able to wear thongs (I SAY THONGS.....NOT FLIP-FLOPS......THONGS for the feet came first, so I'm stickin' with THONGS......even if it conjurs up unsavory thoughts for you!!!).....gee, I got a little testy over that one, eh???? Anyway, as I was saying, no more thongs, or wide-open windows or sunsets at 10 p.m., or fragrant outdoor aromas of blossoms and fresh-cut grass. We're talking now of high heat bills, shoveling, seeing your breath, plugging in vehicles, scraping windows, idling cars until your gas money has run out and being cold....just plain cold.

I love winter.