A day set aside to honor love – how simple, and yet how wonderful. May your upcoming week include a recognition and an appreciation for the love that surrounds you, whether it be from a spouse, a lover, a child, a parent, a friend, a pet, a good book, a favorite place and/or past-time, or the love of self. Happy Valentine’s Day!
We headed out late one afternoon for some snowshoeing. The Twin Cities are filled with wonderful parks that allow you to get “away” from the city, even though it’s all around. I had been to this park before on my bicycle and knew that it had a paved walking trail through it. I was surprised that the trail had actually been plowed, so we carried our snowshoes for awhile. In the center of the park is a wonderful prairie area, with a grove of trees sitting up on a hill. It was the perfect place to don our snowshoes and head off into the knee-deep snow. There was a wonderful quiet to the afternoon – a stillness that occurs when the snow absorbs all the sounds around it. We were out as the sun travelled low in the horizon, lighting the clouds in the western sky. What a treasure it is to have the beauty (and quiet) of nature so near to enjoy.
This week was the beginning the St. Paul Winter Carnival, a true celebration of all things having to do with winter. And this year the weather has cooperated in fine fashion (some might even say it’s been a bit too cold). In past years some of the events have had to be cancelled or shortened because of warming temperatures, but that isn’t an issue for us now. The snow sculptures were being carved yesterday as I wandered around the Minnesota Fairgrounds. This huge sculpture was especially popular for photographs, with the St. Paul Winter Carnival emblem in the center, surrounded by all sorts of cold-weather creatures and beasts. There were even some “tools of the trade” – chests of saws and chisels – that were still being used for touch up. The celebration continues through next weekend (although I truly believe winter will be lasting much longer than that!).
We awoke yesterday morning to a fresh coating of snow – about four plus inches. And while it was still snowing, the forecast was for quickly clearing skies. I bundled up and headed over to Como Park. Arriving before dawn, there was already activity all around. The skiers were out on the golf course enjoying the open spaces, and the groomer was methodically going around the course near the ski hill laying the tracks. As the sun made its way above the low-lying clouds, it caused the shadows to pick up the patterns of the track – line after line after line. Just a few minutes after I made this photo, a group of skiers swooshed past me and down the hill, smiling and chatting and commenting how lucky they were to have such a glorious morning to be out and about.
When the temperature is -26 degrees, the places that I will point my camera for interesting photographs becomes much more limited. As our multiple days of subzero temperatures bottomed out, I found myself inside looking out, through the beautiful patterns of frost on one of the windows. Intricate and fascinating, it was back-lit by a neighbor’s light in the distance. I found myself going from one side of the window to the next looking for patterns that would show the detail. And when I stepped back to see the pattern in full, it reminded me of the delicateness of a green fern. Within a few days our temperatures moderated and the winter beauty on this window evaporated by the welcome sun.
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