Another lesson I learned, in a workshop I did long ago with John Shaw, has been to just put myself outside walking and enjoying. The light will often not be right. Some days I know I won’t make any photographs much less good ones.
I’m a person who needs to be outside, regardless of the weather.
Yesterday was again gray. The light flat and dull. I walked, as I often do, in Hubbard Park. I quickly deleted the first photographs I made. The light began to brighten a bit. The greens of the ferns and mosses, the browns of the leaves and grays of the tree bark all started to come alive. While the photographs were still not great, the light was perfect for just seeing what was before me.
I find tree bark, in particular, to be remarkable, a world in itself. If I have another lifetime, I’ll spend it all studying bark only! Or maybe I’ll just become a tree. I wandered through the woods, drunk on their colors and textures, suddenly so stunning in the saturated afternoon.
The buds of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) with a low, winter sun in the background.
As I headed home the sun finally popped through low in the sky and glowing through the bare trees. From the top of the stone tower I was rewarded with seeing a long view of the sun setting over the mountains and, at my back, the nearly full Wolf Moon rising.
The winter sun setting over the Green Mountains.
All thoughts of the earlier grayness disappeared and I was grateful to be outside. Not a “10-roll” day but lovely one regardless. What a lucky man I am!
Still Learning To See 
Several people have asked if I’d post the camera data for each photograph. I’ll do my best to do that in the future. Here is the data for today:
Beech bud: Pentax K-7, 55-300 zoom lens used at 300mm, ISO 400, 1/250 sec @ f/5.8
Sunset: Pentax K-7, 55-300 zoom lens used at 300mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.8
Both were hand-held shots, braced against a tree or a stone wall.