PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Where is Winter? It Found Us At the End of the Week!
First week of January 2024
The first week of January 2024 brought us beautiful weather. The temperatures were cold at night but mild and sunny during the day. I started the 75 Hard program again, so I’ve been getting outside for daily walks, rain or shine, and I even walked in the snow on Saturday!
I took the lead photo during a morning hike before work. My friend wanted to meet at the trailhead at 6:30 a.m. I agreed, and found myself warming up my car early the next morning when I received a text from my friend.
Do you know it’s dark outside right now? Yep, I can see that!
We started the hike in the dark but soon we were rewarded with a colorful pink and purple sunrise.
I went for my usual walk around the neighborhood on New Year’s Day. I had the option of working that day and leading a hike or two, but decided to take the day off. Our Christmas event had kept us so busy that I decided I wanted a break, even if it was a short one.
One of my neighbors has a rock garden and the crystals in this one caught my eye.
Part of the 75 Hard program involves reading ten pages of a non-fiction book each day for 75 days in a row. I’d been wanting to read a book that a friend gave me — she’s interested in astronomy and astrobiology. She was giving away some of her old college books, and I was interested in this one.
I look forward to reading the ten pages and drinking my coffee before work every morning. This book, with its focus on biology and organic chemistry, is a little over my head but I’m still enjoying it so far.
On Thursday, I hiked from my house up and over the hill where I could see both Carson City and Washoe Valley, the next valley to the north of us (between Carson City and Reno). It was a perfect day for a hike, but I was overdressed. The wind near the top of the hill was chilly, so I was thankful that I’d worn my hoodie after all.
The hike was around six miles round trip and took about two and a half hours including the time it took to walk back to my house. It was more of a climb than I expected, but I enjoyed the day.
During the previous day’s hike, I was looking down at the golf course next to the hospital. It struck me that it was January and the grass was still green!
When I walked past the same golf course, I had to stop for a close-up photo of the green grass.
The weather report for Saturday called for 1–3 inches of snow, starting around 1 p.m. We had 70 mph wind gusts from 8 a.m. until the snow started falling. I decided I should get my walk done before the weather got much worse, so I ended up walking in the snow and wind. By the time I finished my walk, the wind had slowed down and the snow was falling more gently.
We got much more than the three inches of snow the weather forecast had predicted. I think it was more like 5–6 inches once the storm was over! Before I left the park for the night, I walked out into the road and took this photo looking south.
It was later in the afternoon on Sunday before I went out for my walk. By the time I got back to my starting point, the sun was setting. It was another cold day, so I was only out there for 45 minutes or so.
This was my week in photographs! Dennett started this Photo-a-Day Challenge during the summer of 2020 and since then, many others have joined including Anne Bonfert, Susan Alison, Erika Burkhalter, Penny Grubb, Sandra B, K. Barrett, Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages, Ellie Jacobson, Barb Dalton, Barbara Radisavljevic, Jane Frost (Jane Grows Garden Rooms), and more!