The Wonders of Winter
"Snow was falling,
so much like stars filling the dark trees,
that one could easily imagine its reason for being
nothing more than prettiness."
~ Mary Oliver
Begrudgingly I put on my jacket, hat, scarf, and boots. Holding my breath, I braced myself as I opened the door. The cold hit like a block of ice. And I hadn't even stepped outside. One foot out and then another, and finally I let my breath go. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light reflecting off of the snow. As my vision began to come back into focus, I was delightedly astounded by what I saw. Everything - the grass, the last remaining few leaves on the trees, and every branch - was coated in glistening radiant ice! The twinkling world around me felt like I'd walked into a winter wonderland fairytale!
I gripped my camera close as I set out on my Wonder Walk. With the ice crackling underfoot, I made my way down a little path towards the mountains. Every twig and branch was glistening. I came to a clearing and began walking along a field. The sunlight glistened off of every blade of grass like a field of sparkling crystals.
While these photos do no justice to the level of twinkles, I thought I'd share a few to remind you to open your eyes to the wonders around you. What has been filling you with wonder this winter? Have you noticed how every snowfall holds such different subtle nuances? Sometimes the snowflakes are round indistinguishable little clumps, while other times they are intricate large fully formed crystalline flakes. Sometimes the icicles are lined along every house, and other times just a light dusting of frost covers the ground in the early mornings.
May you see many wonders this winter - and always.
"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,
and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"
~ J.B. Priestley
“The field was covered with ice crystals sticking up like a garden of little diamonds.” ~ Chris Kurtz, The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage
"Kindness is like snow.
It beautifies everything it covers."
~ Kahlil Gibran
"The snow is sparkling like a million little suns."
~ Lama Willa Miller
"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again." ~ Lewis Carroll
"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it. " ~ John Burroughs
"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." ~ Edith Sitwell
“I love to watch the fine mist of the night come on, The windows and the stars illumined, one by one, The rivers of dark smoke pour upward lazily, And the moon rise and turn them silver. I shall see The springs, the summers, and the autumns slowly pass; And when old Winter puts his blank face to the glass, I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight, And build me stately palaces by candlelight.” ~ Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du Mal
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