Black and White (= Gray) - Putting Away the Holidays

Tradition says that the Christmas tree and decorations are cleared away on New Year's Day. I try to put it off as long as I can, which in our house means the next weekend. Thus yesterday was the day. Actually I usually have a kind of itchy, nagging feeling by this point that the cookie crumbs, dust, and other detritus of three weeks accumulation under bric-a-brac everywhere is reaching unacceptable levels, but I just hate losing the cheerfulness of the garland and tree glowing throughout the house.

Not to mention that it's a big job packing it all away and then cleaning up the aforementioned detritus.

So it was with a reluctant, heavy heart that the deed was done, with lots of help from my husband.

Looking at the rain from the bare corner where the Christmas tree stood earlier.

To confirm the dreariness of this time of year, we woke to a gloomy, gray drizzle. It ended in mid-morning, perfect timing for Toby's walk. I realized - hey, Black and White Sunday, and what do I see outside? GRAY! So I tucked the camera in my pocket, thinking to take a lot of gloomy GRAY pictures for the blog and thus share my own personal black cloud with you :/

Don't worry! By the end I actually was feeling much more cheerful, and I hope my little photoessay will explain why. If you also get blue in January I hope you, too, feel better at the end!

Starting our walk at the corner of our yard with the leafless quince bushes, forsythia, tulip magnolia, and maples...

After taking this picture, I thought - 1)hmm, might be fun to see how much actual gray I can find that's interesting and doesn't need much grayscale, and 2) whoa, interesting how the branches stand out.

Some unusual deer browsing in suburbia :)
These deer fit my scheme so beautifully, I had to smile. Now I was really absorbed in my hunt for good black+white subjects.

This says it all. Haha! Could have saved myself the first hundred words!

Surprise! The color was just as startling in real life on an overcast day. The message? "Winter won't last forever!"

Green grass peeking through the dead leaves promises spring will be here soon.

I was attracted to the interesting textures and shapes of the fence, the toothy leaves,  corrugated bark, and  furry Toby.

A closeup view.

The lacy outlines of the bare trees against the gray sky caught my eye next.

Serendipity when a flock of blackbirds joined the show!

The gray bench had me imagining how it would look in a couple of months...

Are you smiling yet? I was and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of Toby's walk as I anticipated the fun of playing with my GRAY Sunday pictures. And magically the day didn't seem gloomy at all anymore. Happy Black and White Sunday!

Some color back at home too :)