Missing Color but Being Content

I'm a person who likes color.  I don't have just one favorite color, I have two.  (Green and yellow, and oh, I like blue really well, too).   I like those big boxes of crayons with 64 colors... make that 96, or best of all-- the bonus box with 120 colors.  When I paint with watercolor I tend to use too much pigment (hey, it's going to dry paler, and I don't want that to happen!).

So, on mornings like today when it has snowed overnight and I get up to everything being white... well, you can guess it's not my favorite thing.  

Now is when I could proceed into a discussion of the scientific technicalities of 'color'.  Are black and white actually colors?   I'd say it depends on your definition of 'color'.  There are black crayons and white crayons, so they can be colors in my (coloring)book!  (You can tell I'm not very scientifically minded, eh?)  

All that to say, this time of year I miss COLOR!

I know, there are still some colorful things around.  Male Cardinals,  Blue Jays, and such.  And the 'artist' in me knows there are subtle colors, too.

You couldn't paint this White-throated Sparrow without some burnt sienna and a tiny bit of aureolin for the lores.  You would even need some very pale alizarin for the winter buds on the apple tree.

I played around changing some color photos into black and white-- to see if I would appreciate the subtle colors more.

How's that White-throated Sparrow look in black and white?  Not bad, really, because of its pretty patterns.  But it does show how much color there is in the first photo, doesn't it?

I was going to post the next photo in both color and black and white, too.  But I couldn't tell them apart!  

That is a section of our woods I call the "Warbler Woods" because in May it's full of singing songbirds, like this Black-throated Green Warbler. 

Does all that green make you think "aaahhh" like it does me?  

Another place I walked this morning in the whiteness was our Marshmarigold Glen.
Today it looked like this:

In May, it will be filled with these:

Although, last week when I visited, there was some very pretty ice!

Winter is definitively a time when I appreciate patterns and textures more, whether it be a field filled with dried goldenrod...

or the beauty of years etched into an old tree.

Although I miss the colors of spring, summer, and fall, I must say I always find something beautiful when I walk thru God's creation.  I'm thankful to live in such a beautiful place.  

One of the highlights of my walk today was this Red-tailed Hawk.

It was snowing when I took its picture.  Not too much color in it, even 'enhanced'.  But it is gorgeous, I think, anyway.  (Though, if I were to paint him, no 'red' would be involved, even in its tail, especially in today's light).

Heading back toward home, another magnificent sight greeted me.  Our huge hemlock tree, covered in snow.

I do look forward to when it will look like this again:

 But for now, I'll try to be content with winter.