Timing is Everything In Winter

The older I get, the less I enjoy winter. I think it's a sign of age creeping up on me. I'm not old, but some days I feel old based on things I say or do, such as making statements like, "the older I get, the less I enjoy winter."

This photo is not digitally enhanced. It was actually snowing that hard.

 Don't get me wrong; winter is beautiful. But pretty is as pretty does, the saying goes, and when I have to scrape ice off windshields and steps, and bundle into enough clothing to make me look like Randy from Christmas Story, it's a little less beautiful than when I just look out the window from inside the house warmed with heated floors.

I do love a beautiful snowfall, though. Yesterday, Becky came home from class and asked if I wanted to drive through the state park and take pictures. Of course I did.

A heavy snowfall blankets the world, insulating it from sound. There is no rushing wind. No rustling leaves. No crackle of branches or falling acorns. The world is peacefully silent. It's the most unique sound that nature offers, and it's no sound at all. There is warmth and magic in that silence that can lure you into staying in the woods far longer than you should, and you'll be snowed in before you're even aware.  Watching the snow fall and accumulate is mesmerizing; I can be in the woods for hours and never get tired of it. Trees look like they're been dipped in white chocolate, and then re-dipped to have a chunky, completely-covered look. It amazes me that every surface holds snow, and a lot of it. I marvel, looking at everything, and then looking again because it changed while I was looking away.

Winter really is the prettiest time of year, if your timing is right.