On the Lake

Yesterday, with the sun shining and the cold not quite so cold, I decided to act on my first New Year's Resolution: to spend some time on the lakefront each month.  Despite my jumping the gun on the New Year, my little venture wasn't a terribly successful one, since I had chosen a city park where most of the roads haven't been plowed.  You need snowshoes, skis, or a sled to get down to the beach, and all I had were my feet in boots and my own creaky legs. 

I did get in about two miles of walking --  of course, despite the sunshine, the lake winds provided a bitter version of cold not experienced on my sheltered street several miles away -- and enjoyed the view.  And then, just before I left, I found a small cove sheltering ducks:  mallards, common mergansers, scaup, a pair of canvasbacks, and a raft of buffleheads.  Buffleheads are among my favorite ducks.  Who could not love the name? -- and they completely live up to it!  Their presence makes winter quite a bit more tolerable.