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Snow brings a lot of light deep into the house, as it reflects off the surface - brightening the short days, indoors, even deep into corners.
I love the quiet that snow brings - it muffles all sound, both as it falls & after, while it blankets the ground. It's peaceful.
It moderates temperatures & limits extremes of cold or sudden spikes of warmth - the ambient temp is more consistent, with snow falling or lying.
In the woods, it's a blank sheet for tracks - finding wildlife or understanding their activities is so much easier, with snow down.
Deep snow & snowshoes are a wonderful way to explore the outdoors AND to see wildlife, as U are much quieter [if U avoid nylon clothing & ripping velcro] & can pass or approach wildlife so much less noisily. U can see things U'd never see, during an open winter or any other season, with deep snow as a silencer. Footsteps, twigs underfoot, dry leaves, are all hushed.
I love the smell of snow, the crunch of crust after a few days, the swish or squeak under my boots, the feel of it when i lie on it - deep snow is like a massive quilt, U float on it; thin snow is cool & soft.
I like to make snow ice-cream, scooping a bowlful from below the surface, sprinkling vanilla & sugar on it.
I love walking in it, as it falls, or seeing the changes after it's fallen, the softened lines of limbs on trees, icicles glittering on gutters & roof edges, the city streets suddenly white & clean. I like feeling it brush my face, or catch on my eyelashes, or seeing powder whirl in a gust of wind & sparkle like bits of glass.
In my childhood, i loved being snowed-in on the farm, just us & the animals - going into the warm barn, feeding the sheep, currying my pony, feeding the poultry who wouldn't go out in deep snow, but perched or waddled in the straw indoors; watching my pony run thru belly-deep snow, sledding, my dog sleeping curled-up under the snow rather than exposed on the cold porch, my mare eating fresh snow, my colt - a black bay - wearing a 2-inch thick layer of snow overnight like a blanket; no passing traffic, no school, the world reduced to walking where we wanted to go, & doing only home things.
Eating the brandied peaches we'd put up in August, with the bright blue-white light of snow illuminating the kitchen; snow clear to the deep windowsill in the back yard, the bird-feeders busy with constant come & go, the buzzing tseep of titmice, peep of chickadees, cardinals a shout of lipstick-red or blue-jays as bright as opals against the white.
We were often snowed-in, usually once or twice each winter on our dirt road; it wasn't paved until i was in college, & plowing it was low on the township priority list. Hearing no cars for days on end was wonderful - U don't notice such common noise until it's gone.
My favorite season came with the snows of late winter - lambing. Getting dressed under my blankets, after the sheep woke me, fussing - going out into stunning cold & blue-black night, walking to the barn with the dog, seeing the new baby or twins, making sure mom was up & they were nursing, finding a ewe or ram lamb, seeing new babies with their own special markings in our crossbred flock - then walking back to the house, & a warm bed.
Snow insulates plants from the cold dry air of winter; it melts slowly & recharges the groundwater. It feeds the spring streams & new grass. Seen up close, every snowflake is a work of art, but in drifts, it's the poor man's fertilizer.
- terry
.
Snow brings a lot of light deep into the house, as it reflects off the surface - brightening the short days, indoors, even deep into corners.
I love the quiet that snow brings - it muffles all sound, both as it falls & after, while it blankets the ground. It's peaceful.
It moderates temperatures & limits extremes of cold or sudden spikes of warmth - the ambient temp is more consistent, with snow falling or lying.
In the woods, it's a blank sheet for tracks - finding wildlife or understanding their activities is so much easier, with snow down.
Deep snow & snowshoes are a wonderful way to explore the outdoors AND to see wildlife, as U are much quieter [if U avoid nylon clothing & ripping velcro] & can pass or approach wildlife so much less noisily. U can see things U'd never see, during an open winter or any other season, with deep snow as a silencer. Footsteps, twigs underfoot, dry leaves, are all hushed.
I love the smell of snow, the crunch of crust after a few days, the swish or squeak under my boots, the feel of it when i lie on it - deep snow is like a massive quilt, U float on it; thin snow is cool & soft.
I like to make snow ice-cream, scooping a bowlful from below the surface, sprinkling vanilla & sugar on it.
I love walking in it, as it falls, or seeing the changes after it's fallen, the softened lines of limbs on trees, icicles glittering on gutters & roof edges, the city streets suddenly white & clean. I like feeling it brush my face, or catch on my eyelashes, or seeing powder whirl in a gust of wind & sparkle like bits of glass.
In my childhood, i loved being snowed-in on the farm, just us & the animals - going into the warm barn, feeding the sheep, currying my pony, feeding the poultry who wouldn't go out in deep snow, but perched or waddled in the straw indoors; watching my pony run thru belly-deep snow, sledding, my dog sleeping curled-up under the snow rather than exposed on the cold porch, my mare eating fresh snow, my colt - a black bay - wearing a 2-inch thick layer of snow overnight like a blanket; no passing traffic, no school, the world reduced to walking where we wanted to go, & doing only home things.
Eating the brandied peaches we'd put up in August, with the bright blue-white light of snow illuminating the kitchen; snow clear to the deep windowsill in the back yard, the bird-feeders busy with constant come & go, the buzzing tseep of titmice, peep of chickadees, cardinals a shout of lipstick-red or blue-jays as bright as opals against the white.
We were often snowed-in, usually once or twice each winter on our dirt road; it wasn't paved until i was in college, & plowing it was low on the township priority list. Hearing no cars for days on end was wonderful - U don't notice such common noise until it's gone.
My favorite season came with the snows of late winter - lambing. Getting dressed under my blankets, after the sheep woke me, fussing - going out into stunning cold & blue-black night, walking to the barn with the dog, seeing the new baby or twins, making sure mom was up & they were nursing, finding a ewe or ram lamb, seeing new babies with their own special markings in our crossbred flock - then walking back to the house, & a warm bed.
Snow insulates plants from the cold dry air of winter; it melts slowly & recharges the groundwater. It feeds the spring streams & new grass. Seen up close, every snowflake is a work of art, but in drifts, it's the poor man's fertilizer.
- terry
.
