Winter Wonderland

As the light brightened this morning, we woke to a winter wonderland.  Another 2 or 3" of white fluffy snow flakes.  Every branch was coated; it looked glorious.

The evergreens out on the golf course held the most snow, but even the individual maples were white.  There wasn't a puff of wind, and for at least a few moments, the sun came out.

I took on my biggest exertion of the day and got out the winter mukluks and snowshoes.  Walking through the backyard and out about 30 feet onto the golf course I got a few pictures.  It was worth the effort.

The pines out on the course, and the smaller spruce just behind the bird feeders were gorgeous.  The spruce serves as the landing stage for the goldfinch that come to the feeder, always a spot nearby where they can hide.

Looking down the old fenceline that divides our houses from the golf course, a line of mature Sugar Maples and White Ash, there were lots of coated branches.

But I didn't get out with my camera soon enough.  A puff of wind had blown through and a lot of the snow on the smaller branches had already fallen.  Those conditions for a 'winter wonderland' - the right size snowflakes, the right temperature, and no wind - were changing fast.

With the sun out the structure of the big individual snowflakes that I could see when I first went out earlier, had already deteriorated into big lumps of snow.  The clouds moved in, and it was all just slightly less beautiful.  We don't get many mornings like this over the winter, and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, so who knows what this will all look like.  I was glad I caught it when I did.

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Doing well here at home.  The racing brain overnight seems to have ended; I actually slept most of the night.  Still exhausted with virtually no effort at all, but feeling much better.  And we've been delighted with the friends who have dropped by to say hello.  It'll be a slow quiet week, but a much more comfortable one that last week!