Winter Wonders I’ve Seen

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different.” – J.B. Priestley

I like living in an area where the landscape takes on new looks as the seasons change. That’s not to say that I’m not ready for spring when February stretches out its gray, cold days, but now, here in December with winter just showing up on the calendar  yesterday, I’m ready to embrace the wonders of a new season. I’ve been privileged to see many of those wonders right here on my farm.

The picture of the barn in the snow isn’t from this year. We had a little skiff of a snow a week or so ago. It was here and gone in a day but it did coat the trees the way this one did a few years ago. That can make for a lovely walk down some winter pathways as long as you don’t mind a little snow sliding down your neck if you brush too close to a snow-covered bush or limb.

“How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!” – Thomas Wentworth Higginson

While I sort of like at least one good snow a winter, I’m not that excited when the forecast says ice. But ice can come and beautify everything including the tips of cedar trees. I am always ready to attempt to capture some of that beauty with my camera although I do proceed with caution to stay afoot.

One of the pleasures of the first frosty cold mornings in the fall are these ice flowers that bloom. I know I’ve shared about them with you before, but no matter how many I see, I’m always amazed anew at this unusual gift of nature’s beauty. As I told you in a different post, one has to have the right kind of weeds growing in the fencerows and the right moisture in the ground and the right temperatures. If you want to know more, you can check out my post about the frost/ice flowers here.

Icicles can be a pretty decorations on a cliffside. I went over to see if there were icicles there today, but only spotted a few near the very top of the cliff. Nothing like some of the displays I’ve seen on this cliff in other years. When I was a kid, before everyone got all concerned about pollution and such in rain water, we’d break the icicles off the eaves of our old house and enjoy some icy popsicles.

While ice can be treacherous, it can also be amazingly beautiful. This cardinal posing among the icy branches of a winter day shows its red. Do you think the Lord might have designed the cardinal that bright red so we’d have the joy of seeing one in a tree of ice or snow?

When you feed those cardinals and more in the wintertime, they can come in flocks to find your birdfeeder. and bring beauty to my view out the window in my office as I try to come up with new words to share a story. During this snow a few years ago, I had an abundance of cardinals and other bird visitors to my feeders.

“You can’t get too much winter in the winter.” – Robert Frost

Yes, these are some of the winter wonders I’ve seen.

What winter wonder have you seen?

I drew for the winner of my giveaway for a copy of one of my books with a winter scene. The winner is Susan H. Check you email , Susan, for my message to you.