I can always tell that it’s way too cold outside when I can’t see
through the windows to my front porch! Just a little chilly today…

Clear skies tonight with a beautiful crescent moon… and temperatures plummeting overnight!!!

More fortune cookies have been FOUND!!!
It was another great day for hiking & searching…

According to Nicole who shared these photos : “I was looking forward to this hunt all 2025, counting down the days to the New Year. Thank you for doing this, your work is absolutely beautiful. This year was just my husband and I, we really enjoyed the hunt. Here are our treasures & nature shots… the snow was magical today.”

It was a beautiful day to get outside for a little hike around ILLINOIS BEACH STATE PARK. It has become a bit of an annual tradition for me to kick off the New Year enjoying the scenery. And it is a wonderful “hidden gem” of a state park. I hiked all day and saw about six other people ALL day!!! I think I saw more deer than people!!! A great way to start the New Year!

Looks like “someone” (me) might have forgotten to move the pumpkins & gourds before the snowfall??? Looks they might live here for awhile now?… oh well !!!

When I came home this afternoon, my neighborhood looked like beautiful snow globe. We still had a lot of yellow leaves on some trees… and it was magical to see the snow sticking & piling up on the branches.

Looks like some of our yellow Fall leaves got a little caught off guard by the snow today… especially these maple leaves that came down off the trees today along with a few inches of snow!

One last view… of one last beautiful autumn day!

Well, we finally got our first snow of the season… a bit too soon for my liking. Nothing too heavy in my neighborhood. But it looks like some of the trees were caught off-guard too!

One last mountain on my way home… with a layover in Seattle and a view of a snow-covered Mt. Rainier.