Today is the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. After this dark night our days will become longer and filled with more light.
Wishing you all a bright and wonderful Christmas, and a new year filled with light and wonder.
winter
A quiet repose in winter
The snow of winter has a way of draping its white over everything. The trees become lined emphasizing their structure and branches. The ground becomes white showing the curves and hips of hills. At the University of Minnesota Saint Paul campus is a wonderful sculpture setting of cows. These bigger than life animals are resting peacefully in their urban setting. The snow has draped over them also, quietly emphasizing their repose and seeming indifference to the weather. They’re a great reminder to me to accept the weather, accept the snow, and appreciate its beauty.
Morning in the winter forest
We’ve quickly moved from late fall to snowy winter. The last two weeks have brought snowfall after snowfall, some were quite significant! The forests and woods take on a whole new feeling with winter. Stand still amongst the trees and there’s a quiet that surrounds you. After a minute or so there’s a rustle in the remaining oak leaves that are now brittle with winter’s cold. Eventually the birds ignore your presence and go about their singing and flitting from branch to branch. The snow has marked the direction of the storm on the sides of the trees. And as the sun clears the forest’s edge it lightens the entire area and sparkles off the whiteness all around.
A full moonrise over a frozen lake
The cold has settled in and the lakes are freezing. Throughout the day I watched the clouds and the snow move in. The wind would pick up and blow the snow down the lake, forming whirlwinds of white skimming the ice. As quickly as the snow came in, then the sun would come out. The ice would creak and moan as the heat from the sun combatted the cold of the ice. There were sub-sonic groans that pierced the air. And then the cycle would repeat – snow then sun then snow. But before sunset the skies cleared and there was a beautiful and quiet full moonrise. It lifted over the opposite shore and trees and eventually directed its light on the snow-covered and ice-cracked lake, littered with leaves now encased in the ice.
The demise of fall
We have transitioned from fall to winter quickly. The colors are gone, the air is cold, and the landscape is very neutral. How quickly I’m missing the yellows, golds, reds, and deep burgundies that we experienced just a few short weeks ago! The waters are already beginning to ice up and we have seen snow although it has not stayed. Yet. I needed one more post with brilliant colors before I could put fall behind me.
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