Saturday night and freezing rain

It's Saturday night and I cancelled my plans based on a winter weather advisory for freezing rain.  Yeah, my AWD Subaru has studded snows, but not everyone else  on the road is as well prepared.  I decided to stay home, snug in my house with the wood stove going.  And, Charley the cat.
The outside world can be a bit dreary this time of year.  The landscape is stark and trees look terribly bare without their leaves.  Reminds me of that Joni Mitchell song, "Urge For Going," made famous by Tom Russell.  Love these lines:



I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
And shivering trees are standing in a naked row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
    ~Joni Mitchell

This is the time of year when photo opportunities don't pop up as frequently.  But, if you look closely, it's really quite beautiful.  I noticed today that small sections of the river were beginning to freeze and there were icicles on the rocks by the river.  It has been  very cold here.  A bit too early in the season for me.
I spend lots of time looking at the sky these days, which appears to be constantly changing.  In fact, almost rear ended the car in front of me the other day when the sky looked like this:

 

Inspired by Joni Mitchell -  "shivering trees are standing in a naked row" 

   

All has not been totally bleak.  We did have a light dusting of snow last week.  Yay!  Grabbed my camera and got a few shots of the barn/field across the street in the early morning.

 

Sometimes I love capturing the world in black and white rather than color.  Love the shadows in this barn shot.