There was no weekend lumbering or photo creeping, but it was still pretty swell.

Wifey and I were up at the ass crack of dawn on Saturday to eat breakfast, coffee up, and dump out before the Jingle All The Way 5K in town at 8:30 AM. Wifey was running it, and I was there to cheer her on and get some photographs.

The temps were cold as hell, but Wifey did great and finished her first running event, in what we THINK was roughly 24 years. Super proud of her, and the way she stuck to her training plan, getting out for runs in the freezing cold, rain, and everything in between. And when there was too much snow, she used the treadmill.

She was so happy when she finished, and even had a couple of coworkers show up to cheer loudly for her as she crossed the finish line in just over 35 minutes and way below what she expected after such a long break from running AND being 54 now! Well done, girl!

After that, it was home to watch Spurs bounce back from a run of poor form and get a 2-0 win. C’MON YOU SPURS!! And as a bonus, Arsenal lost to Villa!!!

The rest of my day was spent shooting photos of backyard birds, cooking food, watching footy, and enjoying a few Red Sweater IPAs along the way.

You know some kid, got a beat down because of this.

Sunday brought more of the same, and after hanging out with Wifey that morning, we both made the executive decision to not leave the house. And we didn’t until she left for the office on Monday morning, and I headed to the trails in F-f-f-f-fa-fa-FREEZING cold temps. It was -2˚ when I started my hike, and despite having ALL my cold-weather gear on, I was practically running down the trail to warm myself up.

After two weeks of lumbering with the new Tamron 50-400mm F4.5-6.3 on the Z50, I switched to a full-frame Nikon Z6. I have rarely lumbered with the Z6 due to its weight, but now that I’m using a Cotton Carrier SKOUT camera sling, it’s SO much easier to carry.

I got a few shots, but shooting in 0˚ temps is pretty hard; the autofocus could be wonky at times, and the LCD flipscreen could lag. Of course, the camera is “officially” rated for temps 32˚ to 104˚, so I was a tad out of the recommended range. But hey, I still got a few shots.

I was also impressed that the Z6 still had plenty of battery life at the end of the hike. Even in 20˚ temps, I have to take 2 batteries for the Z50.

I wish I could have got a better shot of the Pileated Woodpecker, but it was obscured by some branches, and the autofocus was SLOW due to the cold. It was a cool experience though, because I was right below it as it smashed its head repeatedly into the tree looking for buggage and wormage (I made those terms up, I think).

After a couple of miles and warming up, I thought about pushing on for my normal 5 to 6 miles, but given the amount of frosty ice forming on my snood, hat, and eyelashes, I thought better and finished with 4.42 miles.

That proved to be the right choice, because by the time I got back to Escape II (the only car in the lot), my fingers were entering Round 2 of being cold.

The first “ice lashes” of the season.

The good news is that at tomorrow’s start time, it will be roughly 22˚ warmer than it was today.

Later.