The days are so short here in December that I often find myself walking at dusk.
Past farmhouses.
Barking dogs.
Signs. "Baskets. Fresh Organic Produce."
I love this little valley, with its friendly people and wide open spaces. But today I think I love the bare trees best of all.
This cottonwood makes me sneeze in summer but today its bones are so tall, so strong, so majestic, I pause in admiration.
Simple farmscapes comfort me with their backdrop of evergreens, the foothills of the Cascades and gilded pink clouds.
I head down the road for home in my torn running shoes. What joy to be back where I belong, under the trees and sky of our own valley.
Simply beautiful.
