I have a lot of furry squirrels that nest and live in my oak trees. The furry tail above belongs to a furry squirrel.
The squirrel above is trying to hide in the tree but its furry tail makes it harder to blend in. The squirrel below was content to allow me to photograph a full body shot for the furry photohunt theme.
Snap2Day - parallel lives photohunt post.
This post will be a return to old programs in more than one way. As far as the photography goes, it's definitely last week's news. Our snow has all melted and we are back to warm, cold, warm, cold weather. I know the birds are happy about the warmer days. You may have to click to enlarge the shot below to see the busy flicker, pecking at the bark of the tree. 
The main way this will be an old program post is that I'm trying to talk myself out of getting nervous about my upcoming full body PET/CT scan (five weeks away) and surgical oncology check up on the same day. Last year when I had made it three years without a melanoma recurrence at Stage III, I made a conscious decision to declare myself free of it and move on.
In some regards I've been more successful at moving on than I thought I would be. Lingering "issues" which I've had since my lymph node dissection are unpleasant reminders but overall, I have done well. I don't expect to be blindsided at this point. However, it's not always possible to push away the undercurrent of anxiety.
I fully expect in March that I will be able to say I have gone four years without a recurrence. I can't decide if it helps me to write about my anxiety at this point or not. Odd since I started this blog as a way of dealing with my melanoma diagnosis and lingering health problems which followed. 
I even started my other blog which is almost exclusively photographs so I wouldn't feel weird if I occasionally came back to health topics on this blog. However, as time has gone by, for whatever reason, I feel sort of strange talking about cancer or chronic issues on my blog. 
Clearly feeling strange isn't stopping me from talking about that old news stuff. I have always been a little strange so I guess strange is normal for me. Now that I'm getting silly, I stop on that comfortable note. I am very comfortable with silly.
When I looked at the sky Saturday night, for a moment I thought there were two spaceships over my next door neighbor's chimney.
The photohunt theme this week is chipped. Below is a chipped tea cup sitting in between a photograph of my daughter in 1986 at her first birthday and a photograph of her father as a boy. 
Below is a closeup of the chipped cup so you can see more detail on the chipped part.
Snap2Days- Parallel lives photohunt post.
I woke up this morning and thought to myself, it's our (U.S.) inauguration day. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 4:30 am and thought: back to sleep for me. First I went to the bathroom and happened to look out the window. It's snowing, it's snowing, so I grabbed my camera. Then I went back to sleep for another three hours, wooohooo!
I was even more excited when I woke up the second time to realize that we were getting some sure enough snow, not just a light dusting which is all we've had so far this winter. Actually our light snow was back in November before it was even winter, and nothing since then.
I had to laugh when I saw that we got 6 inches of snow where I live because that is exactly what I ordered. I blogged recently about how I wanted 6 inches of fluffy snow and I'll be darned if that wasn't exactly what we got.
I doubt the animals were as happy as I was about the snow, but I put out a few treats for them. I was also very happy that it didn't snow in Washington, DC and that the wonderful Inauguration Day was clear for the large group of people who gathered at the Capitol.
Although I was watching the Inauguration from my home television and wasn't there physically, I found myself becoming quite emotional. I thought President Obama's address went very well, and the whole event was quite beautiful to me. The shots of the people that gathered in Washington were phenomenal and the music blew me away (the perfect combination of musical performances).
I have been watching the inaugural events on and off all day and evening and thought I'd take a break and post some of my snow shots.
It snowed fairly steadily most of the morning and early afternoon. It was also lovely at the end of the day how the sun came out just enough to set.
I know some of my blogging friends have had more snow than they wanted this year so I'll probably be mixing up my snow and flower shots in upcoming posts. When I did my post with 2008 summer flower shots I never got around to posting, I barely scratched the surface of flowers I thought I'd post at some point.
If you notice my footprints going across my deck in the shot above, I wasn't setting up a picnic for myself. I was walking across the deck to put some treats out on the ledge for the birds and squirrels. They seemed appreciative.
I was hibernating at home this weekend. Didn't go anywhere or do anything so these shots were taken at home.
Winter is a good time to photograph the birds here because they cluster in the trees watching me as if to say, food, water, please. I do try and melt the frozen bird baths although it was so cold Saturday it kept refreezing.
For other WS participants, please visit the home of Weekend Snapshot.
So many of the shots I'm taking now are bare branches against gray skies or birds in branches against cloudy skies. I love the winter trees and even the clouds but thought I'd put a little color on my blog today.
Even white flowers in the summer are brighter than the winter shots I'm taking. I have a ton of flower shots that I never posted although I did post similar ones.
I can't believe how many shots from 2008 I put in folders thinking I might post them on my blog at some point and never did.
It's not that they are great shots but for different reasons, I selected them out as ones I thought I'd use on posts.
Perhaps winter is a good time to periodically post flower shots to brighten up the day (mine in any event). Looking over my flowers long gone but saved in a photograph was a rather cheerful activity.
Even the hosta leaves without flowers are a memory of bright colors. They are all gone and will emerge their tiny spiky heads in the spring.
The lantana above makes me think of the hummingbirds as they love to feast on its nectar. The hummers are gone for the winter and the lantana has died back although it will emerge again in the spring.
In a way it's funny for me to be posting all these summer flower shots because I am longing for a big snow. We've had little dustings of snow most winters but it has been over three years since we've had any significant snow. 
I am a little superstitious though about what I wish for. I do not want a situation like we had in 2003 when an ice storm followed by snow created long term power outages. I also remember an ER visit when Bill had slipped on ice at work and hit his head. Thankfully Judith had shovelled the driveway so we were able to get to her Dad at the hospital. That was in 2000.
I'm very specific in what I'm yearning for. I want a nice fluffy snow about 6 inches deep but without a sheet of ice on top. I don't want any traffic accidents or hardships for people. I think what I want is a winter fairy tale forest without the witches.
Last week my weekend snapshots were from a Saturday walk where I encountered a lot of bikes. This week, I am again featuring a Saturday walk but I decided to go on a dirt path, off the main paved one, which is only for foot traffic.
It was a very pleasant walk. On the dirt part of the trail, I didn't see any other people.
I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if a woodland fairy had popped out of the hole in the tree.
I kept spotting good places for mythical creatures to hide but I didn't see any. Maybe because they were hiding.
When I was a kid, the log above would have been my bridge. For that matter I used to enjoy walking across logs in my 20s and 30s. Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost my nerve. 
I love river rocks. There is something about a pile of rocks that makes me contented to stare at them for a long time.
To find other weekend snapshots, please visit the home of Weekend Snapshot.
The photohunt theme this week is aftermath. Many of my neighbors view leaves as a negative aftermath of fall. They rake, blow and bag them. I on the other hand love leaves and think they are a wonderful gift of fall.
The bagged leaves above are my neighbor's leaves, all ready to be hauled out. The leaves below are mine, providing a nice winter's blanket.
It's better when I chop the leaves and spread them, but I didn't have the energy this year; so for the most part I'm using them as is. In the spring I'll rake them away from the emerging bulbs and flowers and hopefully get around to chopping and re-spreading.
I'm tempted to pick up my neighbor's bagged leaves and add them to my compost heap as I can always use more leaves. The problem is most of the leaves my neighbor bagged blew over from my yard so they would probably get upset if they saw me doing that.
To find other takes on the aftermath theme you can visit the home of Photohunt where participants post on Saturday.
