Snow Day!

Even a dusting of the white stuff is magical when you're not used to seeing it...

Winter giveth the fields, and the trees so old,

Their beards of icicles and snow...

~Charles duc d’Orléans, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The last one is from the next day. 

Since temperatures didn't get above freezing for a couple of days, the "snow" lingered in some spots.

By the third day it was gone...just a memory as we shed jackets and enjoyed 70 degree temps.

Texas, have I told you lately that I love you?

A Snow-Covered Morning (part 3)

Highs in the 70's. Tons of sunshine. 

No flowers lining the road, but plenty of green, thanks to the juniper and yucca, 

and the birds are singing like it's Springtime.

Could that really be it for us? No more Winter?

Between you and me, I hope the birds are right.
But it makes me extra glad I took so many shots of the snow while we had it.

Let's see, where were we? Oh, yeah... puppies playing...

They weren't the only ones playing in the snow it seems...

Not quite enough snow to cover the rocks, but that's okay. 

I love the shadows...

Why do I love photographing barbed wire and cedar posts?

Not much difference in snow and caliche...

Except snow angels are much easier than caliche angels...

More shots of the dogs, of course...

The pond even started freezing up... (although I wouldn't try ice skating on it!)

When there’s snow on the ground, I like to pretend I’m walking on clouds.

~Takayuki Ikkaku and Arisa Hosaka

That's it until next year! 

(I'm pretty sure, anyway. This is Texas, after all. You never know what the weather is going to do.)

A Snow-Covered Morning (part 2)

Yesterday morning Winter came knocking on our door again, 

but this time (as usual) he traveled lightly, bearing only the frigid wind. 

No snow.

What better time to stay inside, warmed by the wood-burning stove, 

and post the second batch of my Long Hollow Winter Wonderland 2011 photos? 

It's too cold to go outside!

We'll just pretend we're stepping outside onto the back deck, dusted with windblown snow...

...then we turn a corner and see the porch swing, brightened by a fresh whitewash...

I love snow on the rocks and sun on the snow.
(Max and Belle are still warming up inside - otherwise there'd be puppy prints (or more likely puppy) in these photos...

You can see from all the footprints above that Max and Belle are de-thawed and ready to play in the snow again...

This reminds me it's time for our morning walk.
I can see through the window beside me that, in my real world, the sun is up and shining on the Hollow, and despite the cold and lack of snow,
 it's beautiful!

I'll post Snow-Covered Morning Part 3 soon.
 Cross my heart that's the last one!
But snow is such a rare gift for us, I want to make it last as long as possible!

A Snow-Covered Morning (part 1)

My northern friends and family may roll their eyes 

at the classification of Winter Wonderland given to an inch of snow

and I might, too, if I had days, weeks, months of snow as they do,

But I don't.

Having all conditions come together just the right way 

to allow delicate snowflakes to fall from the sky above these hills

comes close to being a miracle.

And we treat it as such.

Besides, as a friend said,

Snow makes cold magical!

See what I saw on my snow-covered morning...

Looking down the little creek bed...

Tom's Project #2017: windmill

Belle meets Snow. 

Max, just because he's cute.

Around the little pond...

Holly, splashes of red...

Brrr... by this point my hands were frozen! 

Time for some hot coffee and a break in front of the wood-burning stove. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my snow-covered morning...