Monday, March 09, 2015

Soft Cold

Within days the ice storm, I wrote about in the prior post, melted and was almost immediately followed by another cold front bringing hail in the early hours of the day and a snowstorm in the later part.  The tickety, tickety sound of the hail hitting the skylights was like little wrens dancing on a tin floor. Then it changed to snow.  There is nothing more lovely and surprising than a heavy dry snow storm coming through on a late afternoon.  While we have had cold weather in these parts, we have not had lots of snow like so many others.  One storm of a few inches I missed while I was on travel.  This second one came through the second week of march and left me with beautiful scenery.  Such snowstorms (when not in super abundance or brought with frighteningly high winds) are so soft and clean when they cover everything.  They purify the sins of the earth.  Everything is virginal once again.

Snow is initially fun to watch because it is gentle and quiet and not intimidating like a summer electrical storm.


The clickity sound of the hail on the skylights was replaced...by...no sound at all.


Birds came in from everywhere and began to wait patiently for the sun to set.


The storm place a layer of soft fluffy crystals with bits and pieces of loose down sticking to the barks of trees and building in drifts pushed by the wind catching bunches and throwing them high.  A true pillow fight of large proportions. By nightfall every edge was smoothed in crystal white.


The evening meant a fire in the fireplace and some apple spice cake making from all those apples I picked and froze  last fall.  We each had a big slice.


By morning the sun arrived boldly and the yard had been dressed in a new smooth white silk with only the fox's footprints in the front yard and a lone deer's hoof prints in the backyard to break the perfection.  (This post was written days ago as I have been busy with kids doing lots of stuff.)

17 comments:

  1. pretty pictures. I missed getting snow this year. Oregon seems to have skipped winter and gone straight from fall to spring. We did get some freezes though which is good if we don't get them just as the fruit trees blossom...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it is the silence of the snow and the light I like best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Similar by my woods.
    It arrived quickly and finally
    this morning not a trace of the white stuff. Now rain sets in
    but Spring is on the way...

    ReplyDelete
  4. That first storm had me stuck on rt.78 in Pa. heading to my son's house. $5+ minutes without moving an inch, and I never did find out what caused the hold up in the ice/snow. Still I am like you, I love the snow, especially in the afternoon. I can watch it for hours...but I prefer to not be in the car.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The snow in that last picture looks so pristine, with the shadows and the sunshine. I like thinking of the snow fall as feathers from a pillow.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your photos!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's amazing how the landscape can be so completely transformed by something making no sound.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Along with the photos, I felt I was standing there with your words in my ears. It was a peaceful and beautiful experience.

    ReplyDelete
  9. One time when we had snow, i was amazed at how it came down so silently and beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The year is not complete with a good snow and few good photos to remember it by. I like the images of wrens, virginal white and pillow fights.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The pictures are beautiful. I enjoy seeing them on your blog and not out my window.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We had the same storm here in PA. It was indeed beautiful. The best thing about it though, was that it got warm quickly and all remnants have almost disappeared. This was the prettiest, largest and hopefully, the last snow of the year. I am planning on that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Written any time will do. Thanks for sharing such beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The cake looks yummy but I especially love the pan it is in. I would like to have several pieces of that cookware.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yes, I got to my site this morning, and not one note on that entry. Does that help?

    ReplyDelete
  16. A fire in the fireplace, soft snow falling...and a slice of the applesauce cake. Life couldn't get better.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a beautiful snow. I really wish we had some of this, however winter was a no-show in OR this year. If only Boston could share, dang it.

    ReplyDelete

Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.