A Beautiful View Of Blowing Snow

Early this morning there wasn't much of a view out any of my windows.  Everything had a deep blue cast and all you could see was falling snow.  When the snow stopped and the sun came out the view got much more beautiful and interesting.  Somehow the wind  found a path uphill through the Norway spruce.  So much snow was blowing off the branches of the trees that it looked like it was still snowing!   All of the marks in the snow were made by the deer who often sleep within sight of the house.

Countless times I have watched the wind kick up little swirling tornadoes of snow.  They whirl and dance across the snow moving across the garden or along the ridge.  We have always called them snow devils.  I have written about them many times, but I don't think I have ever caught one in a picture.  This time the devil's motion was stopped cold by the camera.  It looks a little like a weird ghost standing next to the snow covered Japanese Honeysuckle in the center of the picture.

I never tire of this view of the garden.  Today Ed's stone walls are capped in beautiful white snow.  The locust tree looks as pretty as a sycamore.  Blowing snow is rising from the ridge in the distance.  Everything looks so peaceful and quiet.  It is a lovely idea to hibernate here and wait for spring to come.

However things are not so quiet when we look out the kitchen door. The other kind of blowing snow has been in progress much of the day on this end of the house.  Ed and his fleet of John Deeres have to cope with the reality of dealing with snow.  Clearing our .25 mile downhill lane and clearing off the cars is a big job.  Sometime we will give up and call someone to do it for us.  Today was not that day.  I think Ed looks like he is having some fun!

At the end of the day the snow has been blown, plowed, shoveled and brushed.  We can hibernate here if we want to, but Ed has given us a choice.  All in all this was a beautiful day!   If we can believe the forecast we won't get this much snow again until Wednesday.