Almost Winter Beauty

What could be more beautiful than the sun reflecting off the snow dusted landscape? The hills, trees, wire fences, and weeds all look lovely with their frosting of white.  Minuscule snowflakes floating in the air sparkle like tiny diamonds. 

We are some distance from the Great Lakes.  Cold dry Artic air draws moisture from the still warm lakes.  That moisture becomes a unique type of fluffy snow.  Areas closer to the lakes have five feet or more of snow on the ground.  People there likely find less beauty in this snow.  For us the ever present snowfall amounts to little accumulation.  Its surface stays clean and sparkly.

The long shadow of the locust tree will not fit in the photograph.  The sun is still dropping lower in the southern sky every day, and our daylight hours are still getting shorter. But in 3 more days, all that will change. Time to begin gathering wood for our bonfire.