Monday, February 05, 2007

Winter Walk

Today is blustery, with high winds and bitter cold. Every school district is closed. Further north, lake effect snow has shut down entire cities. The howling wind has reduced visibility to zero and drifted snow across streets like walls. I am glad not to have to venture out into the brutality. I am treasuring these last few days of sleeping late, wrapping myself in layers, and sipping hot tea around the house.


I am glad winter finally arrived. I have shoveled the driveway almost every day these last few weeks, with a few more inches of snow arriving almost daily. I love seasonality, precisely for the very changes it brings to the landscape. If asked to narrow it down, I would say that spring is my favorite season: the transformations are most dramatic then. Without the harshness of cold winters, I would treasure the sweetness of spring less.

However, even to a fan of winter such as myself, this biting frigidity is too much. Outdoor recreation would be a torturous, miserable pursuit on such a day. Over at In Blue Ink, Nadine has been posting photos from warmer days to cheer herself through these cold spells. Jo(e) has also been comforting herself with summertime photos. Maybe if I get too cold, I will look for some warmth radiating photos as well.


In the meantime, I offer these pictures hastily snapped on a walk in our woods Friday afternoon. [Although the falling snow doesn’t show up well in the photos, it was really coming down at the time, and I was worried about the camera getting too wet.] Obviously, my photos will provide little comfort to the diehard winter-haters lurking amongst us. But I find consolation in them, if only for the reminder that winter is not always this cruel. Some days it is a delight.

5 comments:

Nicole said...

Lovely photos. I too enjoy the seasons. Having grown up in Southern California, I never really got to enjoy season changes. There seem to be only two seasons there: green and brown. Perhaps, it's one more reason why I have made my home in the Northeast. Although I really don't get any joy at all from shoveling snow. Just an impending heart attack. :)

Molecular Turtle said...

The pictures are fanastic. I like seasonality as well but winter the least of all. When it gets to -21 it's time for spring in my books.

Aliki2006 said...

Beautiful pictures! I'm a huge snow fan and I remain constantly disappointed and frustrated with our winters in the south. I'll have to live vicariously through winter pictures such as yours...

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

I like the pictures, too. I guess there is lake effect snow nearby, but we haven't been getting much. A little, but very little. The kids are home from the cold! I like seasons, I've always loved seasons, and I moved AWAY from California because I hated the lack of spring--no winter, no spring. I'm getting old though, I guess, my tolerance for cold seems less.

I was looking for NEWS?

jo(e) said...

I love the photos. I have been stuck inside because of this knee injury so it was nice to be able to enjoy your walk outside vicariously ....