It's almost that time of year. We've had an exceptionally mild Fall, with temps well into the 70s and even higher many days, but it's time. The nights have been cold, and we've had frost in the mornings. It was down to 18F one morning when I left for work, but the warm, sunny days have held at bay the normal cool crispness of autumn. The last couple of days have felt different, though, and the skies have been dark gray-blue and threatening on several occasions. Snow must be on its way. I am that odd person who loves winter. I love the cold, the frost, the snow, yes, even the snow. I love the special beauty of winter; icicles dripping from the eaves, my breath-fog in the air, the snow-cloaked evergreens and fences. I love the silence that accompanies a snowfall, and the quiet that blankets the earth when the ground is snow-covered. I love the bright reds and blues of the cardinals and the bluejays at my birdfeeder, and the gray/black/brown of the stark, bare trees.
There is a particular light that fills the air on the morning after a heavy snowfall. I can tell as soon as I wake and open my eyes, and even before looking out the window, that snow has come. Hitting the 'snooze' button and burrowing deeper beneath the warm quilts in a cold bedroom on a snowy winter morning is one of life's great guilty pleasures, made even greater with someone to snuggle beside you.
I am awestruck on very, very cold winter days, when the sun shines brilliantly even though the temperatures are in the single digits, and the moisture in the air freezes into nearly invisible ice crystals that catch the light and sparkle like diamond dust. It is magical. I am amazed to see the great, huge flakes that form and fall and SPLAT!! against my windshield when the air is very damp and the temperatures have just reached freezing. I know that I post pictures of snow every winter, but I love, love, love it. These images are from last winter, one of the loveliest I can remember...but then, I say that nearly every year! This year, 2010, has been one of change and loss and stress and conflict, and I am ready for some peace. Let us have winter. Let it blanket us and comfort us and bring us rest. Let it come.
Snow be with you!
