Madison, WI

Started walk at 6:15 a.m.

It seemed like Winter this morning. Cold and damp. Tommorrow is supposed to get even colder. If we have a few more days like today the lakes will probably freeze. However, with predictions of 35 and 40 degrees by Thursday, I doubt if they will be very safe. The island is still not icebound. There is a fairly large area of open water on the island side that faces a spring-fed stream.

It was dark outside for the the first half of the walk and difficult to see the paths. I expected to hear the owl but heard nothing. Is it too cold for the hunter? Or, is the easy prey more scarce now that there's a nice snow cover for safety? I can easily imagine tunnels under the top crust with field mice going about their chores. Chance was manic this morning. Both frisky and chaotic. Everything was important to sniff. Lately he has been prone to tracking rabbit tracks. He'll follow their trail up to a tree and then circle the tree following the same path. He becomes oblivious to everything else around him. This morning was no different.

I didn't forget my Nissan thermos this morning. Like an old pro, I went into the coffee shop and said "filler up." I believe that I got more coffee than usual and it actually cost 20 cents less. Coffee was good -- Costa Rican -- and it stayed hot in my new thermos. Cranberry muffin -- good.