New Year's Day

Bittersweet. That is the one word that always comes to mind when thinking about New Year's Day. That day when you realize all of the holidays are over and you are just a bit sad but yet still trying to jump on the motivation train into the brand new year.

Some people spend the day in bed recovering from a wild night of watching the infamous ball drop while others are scribbling lists of resolutions to loose weight or plan out their next 364 days of accomplishments. No matter what side of the coin you're on, it's hard to deny that the start of a new year always feels like a good benchmark to make a change, or at least set some fresh goals.

With leaving 2020 behind in the rear view mirror and looking down the road into what 2021 has to offer, it feels like a very optimistic light at the end of the tunnel. Going with that optimism, I decided to set some goals of my own. One is this blog. I've been wanting to start a photography blog for quite some time now. If we have learned anything from the most recent events in life, it is that time is precious and if you want to do something while you have the time, do it. So here we are.

On January 1st, I set out with my sister on a snow shoeing excursion at Fort Snelling State Park. Fort Snelling is hands-down one of my top ten favorite places in Minnesota. The trails are beautiful and the wildlife is so fun to watch. I had been hearing some buzz on the socials about a barred owl that had been spotted recently. On this particular day, it was pretty busy so I didn’t anticipate seeing a whole lot of activity, but I was wrong...

After a few hours of snowing the shoes, we saw several deer, what I believe to be a Copper hawk and a gorgeous sun dog over the lake.

As we were driving out of the park, I noticed a gentleman standing on the side of the road with a pair of binoculars. I had a feeling that he saw exactly what I had been searching for all day. I pulled over into the closest thing I could find to a parking spot and grabbed my gear. Meanwhile, my sister got out of her car a few spaces down and started calling my name. I looked over and she was pointing up into the tree she parked near... she found an owl! Woohoo! Finally!

By this time, there was quite a large group gathered in the parking lot trying to catch a glimpse of these beautiful creatures. They were not interested in sticking around in one spot for any length of time, so I just was happy that I was able to get a couple of shots before it got too dark. Such a fun way to start the new year!