Yesterday and today we've had gorgeous sunny weather which is always a blessing! I needed out of the house yesterday afternoon so we make a journey to a park on the outskirts of town which we had heard was a great park. And it didn't let us down! Granted, I think it will be even better when everything is in bloom, but it was still good to get some fresh air and be encouraged by signs of life. There were small green heads starting to stick out of the earth! And I even saw small buds on some bushes :) I am very excited about that! Maybe spring is really already around the corner! We have been warned, though, that sometimes the snow starts falling in Feb or March.

While at the park I spotted a Monkey Puzzle Tree. If you have never seen these, they are pretty cool. The first couple of days we were here I saw one and asked what it was because I had never seen one and it was so unusual. This one looks kinda normal from a distance but up close the shape of the leaves (or
whatever you call them) are unique.

After the park Mark needed something from the hardware store so I sat in the car and watched the skiers! It's sort of random that in the midst of all these big stores and alongside a very busy street there is a small skiing place. Very odd. What is even more odd is that one of the slopes looked like it had artificial snow on it, but the other one almost looked like it was rubber grates/mats laid down. I couldn't/can't figure out what it is! Can you see how there are black areas? It was definitely not mud and it looked like the same grate-like things as the whiter ones. But what could it be? Any ideas?