a walk in the middle of the week

we do treasure the wednesday afternoons, when joel is home. it is a privilege for all of us and most often some kind of a project takes over and joel with one or two kids is working on this or that. though today we decided to go and visit the grandparents up the toess valley. we hopped off the train one stop early to use the moment for a walk along the river. it was a not so sure it won't rain afternoon, and because of that wonderful skies to be observed!
sometimes i forget how good it is to just walk and take it all in. today it was the bare nature in mid winter. there was no snow, it was just bare and solemn.
it is not the most exciting time of year to go on walks, we all have to bundle up and then take the camera out and i freeze my fingers off. a stiff breeze was blowing, i forgot my mittens and i just don't know how that could have happened. thinking of the moment we left the house, it must have been a moment of sunshine and i absolutely didn't remember that it is mid winter, supposed to be cold.
as usual, i carry the camera in a knit hat, just so it doesn't get beat up in my back pack. not long, the camera was out and the had found it's original purpose with joel putting it on immediately. well that's good, i'm all for "multipurposing"...
we stood and watched the water go by, it must have been minutes, the kids were long gone, run and skated ahead to meet the grandparents, as they walked toward us to meet us half way. and i'm thankful for a january afternoon spent outside walking and wondering and enjoying.