Soft Cold

Within days the ice storm, I wrote about in the prior post, melted and was almost immediately followed by another cold front bringing hail in the early hours of the day and a snowstorm in the later part.  The tickety, tickety sound of the hail hitting the skylights was like little wrens dancing on a tin floor. Then it changed to snow.  There is nothing more lovely and surprising than a heavy dry snow storm coming through on a late afternoon.  While we have had cold weather in these parts, we have not had lots of snow like so many others.  One storm of a few inches I missed while I was on travel.  This second one came through the second week of march and left me with beautiful scenery.  Such snowstorms (when not in super abundance or brought with frighteningly high winds) are so soft and clean when they cover everything.  They purify the sins of the earth.  Everything is virginal once again.

Snow is initially fun to watch because it is gentle and quiet and not intimidating like a summer electrical storm.

The clickity sound of the hail on the skylights was replaced...by...no sound at all.

Birds came in from everywhere and began to wait patiently for the sun to set.

The storm place a layer of soft fluffy crystals with bits and pieces of loose down sticking to the barks of trees and building in drifts pushed by the wind catching bunches and throwing them high.  A true pillow fight of large proportions. By nightfall every edge was smoothed in crystal white.

The evening meant a fire in the fireplace and some apple spice cake making from all those apples I picked and froze  last fall.  We each had a big slice.

By morning the sun arrived boldly and the yard had been dressed in a new smooth white silk with only the fox's footprints in the front yard and a lone deer's hoof prints in the backyard to break the perfection.  (This post was written days ago as I have been busy with kids doing lots of stuff.)