Yesterday’s frost is today’s dew. Where the back field was sheeted in white, it now twinkles in the sun like a field of diamonds. The morning temperatures are 15° warmer today already.

By afternoon yesterday, we went walking down to the bayou. Me, #2 grandson and the girls. There was a warming south wind coming in off the Gulf thirty miles away. The clear blue sky let through the sun that warmed us even more. The thermometer hanging above our back stoop hit the mid 80’s by the end of the afternoon. But during our walk, it was just pleasantly warm. Shorts and flipflop weather but with a long sleeve Henley.

Last week the County drainage folks had their big mower on the bayou cutting the grass and brush along the top and sides. So this week we can actually see the water at the bottom of the cut. So #2 grandson had plenty of cut grass and limbs to play with as we meandered around the loop. He was really intrigued by the fact that for the first time this year he could actually see the girls as they coursed through the woods. It’s almost funny how a couple of frosts can knock down the weeds that normally block the view into the dark, shaded woods.

Our normal flocks have returned. I saw robins and blue jays both in their winter numbers. Our winter hawks are showing up on the trees and telephone lines throughout the county. The yaupon are wearing their Christmas berries…Evergreen and red. Right now, this very minute, I have a mockingbird on the lantana outside my window picking the black berries for breakfast… Which is how these lantana buses end up growing every where around here.

Today should be just as nice…I think I’ll try to remember to take my camera when we go walking.