Madison, WI

Started walk at 3:50 p.m.

Although the sun was hiding behind a veil of gray for most of the day, the clouds slowly departed and gave the sun sole ownership of the afternoon sky during our late day walk. Temperatures in the 20's.

Shadows appear softer in the afternoon, almost like the sun is tired and is ready to give up its celestial dominance. Although this observation may be debatable and even proven to be scientifically false, I can say with utter certainty that the shadows, do indeed, go in the opposite direction than those of my morning walks. This seemingly obvious difference makes our trail look very different then in the early morning. Objects that I usually see as monochromatic silhouettes are bathed with golden yellow sunlight. There is a feeling of closure rather than a beginning.

We saw human footprints going out to the island. Like Robinson Crusoe finding the footprint in the sand, there is a small feeling of invasion. In this case my feelings are unwarranted and idealistic since this little island is not situated in a remote north woods lake; but rather, it is in a backwater pond surrounded by a thriving urban community. Nonetheless, it was a signal that the water was frozen enough to hold our weight so Chance and I went out to the island and looked back at our daily viewpoint. A winter juxtaposition.

Very few birds out in the afternoon. There must be some truth to the notion of, "the early bird getting the worm." Even still, I was surprised by the lack of crows at this time of day. Like always, there were plenty of ducks.

I couldn't find my Nissan thermos to take on the walk -- Coffee -- Costa Rican -- in a styrofoam cup -- OK -- I think I'm spoiled. No muffin today -- but I did buy Chance a day old apricot bear claw -- woof!