January Heat Wave in Pictures (Part Two)

One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting up with Tiina from One Crazy Penguin for a puppy play date. New BFFs Millie, Orion and Koda. I am looking forward to more adventures with this crew.

I think Millie will be begging for a new outfit after hanging out with these stylish pups. Orion is wearing a pack and is carrying all his mom's essentials. Sounds like a great idea and I am sure Millie will be getting one soon. Time for her to start earning her kibble. Koda is wearing a sparkling pink number to keep herself warm...like her mama she is a warm weather gal. Koda was very focused on walking - Millie and Orion were a little more distracted, but everyone behaved themselves very well. Love Orion's curly tail :)

We walked at Horseshoe Lake State Park - named for the horseshoe shaped lake :)  The lake was mostly frozen and the wind was a bit colder than anticipated, but the walking kept us pretty warm and the sun was beautiful.

I am fascinated by large wading birds - herons, egrets, cranes, etc.  I was so excited to see 6 or 8 of of them hanging around the lake. Several were standing on the ice just yards from us. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone camera so I didn't get good shots of them.

I already had plans with my photographer friend to have a photo outing the next morning. As soon as Tiina and I left the park, I called Amy to ask if we could change our destination to Horseshoe Lake. I was super excited about photographing the wading birds. As you will see from the following pictures...denied!  We only saw one and it was flying too far away to photograph. Boo. However, we did enjoy the morning and found plenty of other things to photograph, so all was not lost. You can check out some of Amy's work on Facebook at Look Closely Photography.

A view of St. Louis.

Our county has some excellent bike trails. I will have to remember this one come spring/summer.

One of the main reasons I want to lose weight and get in better shape is to more fully enjoy weekends like this. By the end of the weekend, I was completely exhausted and have been fighting plenty of aches and pains since them. Part of photography is finding the right angle and patiently waiting in a potentially awkward position. I would like my body to be stronger and more flexible so I can get those shots.


How will losing weight and getting fit impact your hobbies?