"It can be a trap of the photographer to think that his or her best pictures were the ones that were hardest to get." - 365 Project, Day 2

One annoying thing about winter in Ottawa, especially around this time of year, is that, although on paper it may seem like a pleasant day, once the sun goes down - or the spot it would theoretically go down were the sky not slathered in a coating of flat, indistinguishable cloudiness - the temperature drops slightly, but the wind picks up mightily.  The next afternoon, the temperature goes back the standard winter range, with less wind, only to swing back once the sun vanishes for another night.

This is March, and by the end of the month the weather usually becomes warm enough for squirrels and bears to wake up from hibernation (though, and this is only a guess because I've never witnessed this one way or the other, I assume they haven't been laying next to each other) and roam around.  Winter, this year, however has been a harsh bi... uh, season.  The windchill has generally ruined a, well, otherwise cold day.  Daily fluctuations in coldness have only served to confuse us poor Canadians, leaving us wondering when the snow will finally loosen its grip on our lawns and balconies.  Only once or twice has the temperature been deemed non-tuque-worthy this winter.  This is, after all, Ottawa, and, though we may seem to complain about the warmth-less winters, we know every year we'll have to live through the same snowstorms and drive-thru lineups at Tim Horton's attempting to get our morning coffee/hot chocolate fix.

The main point of these meandering sentences is that pictures of the exterior world in such times are slightly rarer than usual.  Alternate scenes have to be found, given that human fingers in these wintry conditions don't fare as well as, say, robotic fingers, and this is what everybody seems to have done.  Interestingly, my father has joined this project, by the way.  His picture is slightly older than today, but he'll have a more up-to-the-minute picture tomorrow.  On to the pictures. 

Frank

All I know of this picture is that it's near Carp, Ontario, a-sneeze-and you'll-miss-it village of about 1400 people, and it's yellow.

Mandy

Her note: My mother's dog Billy has this way of looking like a harlequin in an old Hollywood picture. So desolate because the leading character has gone! You can't help but want to kiss him out of his funk. Maybe that's the whooooooooooole idea........

Shannon

Her note: Went for a walk at lunch today, and came across this tall skinny cactus.

Myself

I was straining to figure out what picture to put up when I walked into my apartment and found this interesting reflection on my closet caused by the sunlight coming through my bedroom window.  One upside of having a cold winter's day is the evenings, if clear, are extremely clear, and give off this terrific light.