Just kickin’ up my heels for St. Paddy’s Day ...

What a gorgeous day it was today! After a week filled with two high-wind events, (with tornadic conditions expected on Thursday), and getting caught in a snow squall yesterday, this St. Paddy’s Day weather was the perfect tonic for all the gloomy, icy, windy and snowy days we’ve endured since mid-January.

It sure made you stand up and take notice, or at least kick up your heels, just like this Canada Goose up top.

Heritage Park was my primary destination today.

It was cold, just 23 degrees F (-5 C) when I arrived at this park. Sure it was nippy, but if you’re dressed for it, you didn’t even notice.

I was here last St. Patrick’s Day too. Click here.

The bright sun was glinting off the ice which covered Coan Lake. Most of the ducks were huddled together by the covered bridge, while the geese were in small groups, walking rather precariously across that ice which resembled glass.

This pair of geese stayed put, looking a little wobbly on the slick surface, first gravitating toward one another, then finally going their separate ways.

There were a few breaks in the ice where there was water. Well, I don’t know about you, but if I had my druthers, I’d stay on the ice, not in the frigid water, surrounded by ice ... just sayin’.

These two geese looked like they’d rather stay on dry land, then venture out into the water or onto the ice. I can’t say that I blame them, do you?

I usually walk around Heritage Park’s historical village a couple of times, then take the perimeter path around the entire Park. But, all that rain we had Wednesday night and through Thursday left huge puddles on the grass, and even on the pathways in the village. You can see in this picture how treacherous the icy pathway was for walking and the sun was so strong, you couldn’t always tell where the ice began and ended.

The alternative was the goose-poop-laden lawn. These were my parting shots of Heritage Park, which is always beautiful, even wearing its barren cloak of Winter.

It was still early and I was not going to head home yet, so I went to my favorite stomping grounds, Council Point Park and concentrated on walking and feeding my furry pals. I got six miles walked today ... and that was worth doing a little Irish jig over!

I think we may have turned a corner on this brutal cold as we will inch up a few degrees every day and it will be 50 degrees (10 C) on the first full day of Spring. That makes me smile.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net