Delerious!

Snow! Not just a sprinkle on the ground, like we had in October, but real honest-to-goodness snow! It fell during the night, and we woke up to find a clean, crisp world of white.

Now, some folk, when they are greeted by that, groan. They see the glass as half empty. They lament the end of the days of lying motionless on a beach towel. They have failed, utterly, to grasp the situation. Winter is not a spectator sport -- you have to get active to enjoy the beauty of this season! Downhill Skiers and boarders get the adrenaline, snowwmobilers get the speed factor, snowshoers and cross country skiers get the silent communion with nature... There are endless possibilities for building snowmen, snowforts, getting out the camera and catching images you can't find any other time. And it gives you a whole new apreciation for that fire in the fireplace when you come back indoors for tea or hot chocolate! Sure, you have to shovel... in California you have to rebuild from the ashes. In Florida, the hurricanes can carry you away... There's always a downside if you insist on finding it.

Dave and Mike are both skiers. For them, snow is a wondrous gift. Everyone went a little silly out there... the way kids do on with first snow, when everything was suddenly transformed and new and beautiful.

Brian challenged the boys to a rousing old-fashioned game of Fox and Goose (you stamp out a pie shape in the snow, and you play tag, but you must stay along the stamped out lines. No cheating) This went on until David wiped out, and Brian stopped to consider the repayment of his oxygen debt.

Time to Feed the Birds

The first snow of the year arrived Tuesday. It's magical. And, despite the fact that we know it's coming, that it arrives every year about this time, we're never ready. There are still things to do in the gardens... leaves still unraked... winter storm windows to install. Snow tires...

Never mind, it will all melt - the forecast is for 16 degrees -- and we will get it all done! But it is a sure sign that it is time to start putting some seed in the birdfeeder -- which looked a little forlorn and lonely in the early dawn snowfall.

Not that our birds are going hungry. We grow huge numbers of sunflowers in the garden each year, just for the birds. And there are still plenty of apples left on the crabapple trees. Looking, I must say, rather lovely with that touch of frosty snow!

The snow makes a dramatic backdrop to the colours still on the trees. This is when the bright yellows and deep golds come into their own, next to the dark evergreens, and with that sparkle of white it makes a great picture. To be strictly honest, however, the first snow does not thrill everyone. The Bobs (our chickens) sang songs of loud lamentation as they picked their way through the 'drifts.'