The Glories of Winter–my collection

It is surely premature to post a round-up of winter photos as if the season were behind us just because the calendar page has flipped to March. However, the days are lengthening. The sun has returned to peek in our window briefly each morning.  And inevitably this draws me to think of spring and to hanker to put away the ‘ice grippers’ and winter layers and revel in sun on skin.  I begin to crave GREEN.  And the glory of Winter’s gleaming white loses some of its wonder.  So, today, I offer you my collection of winter moments in hopes that they will soon be supplanted with flowers and greenery!

   

Nevermind that we had fresh snowfall this weekend and that we’re still walking on about a foot of snow anywhere off the cleared pathways…We were up at the Banff natural hotsprings yesterday and I saw some wee aquatic plantlife.  And it was GREEN!  I can hardly wait!

–LS

Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.  Job 38:29-30 KJV

April’s coming and goings…

I’ve just got to get used to it.  Snow is the primary season here…

April has been the story of its comings and goings.

 

But there is hope.  The aspen trio that marks the seasons outside my window has put on its spring lingerie despite repeated snowfall…

And the glory of Easter was not to be denied…

We spent it with the two beautiful granddaughters that live further north than we.  And God sent sunshine!

And while I wait to see flowers appear outside, I’ve been dabbling inside with color that makes me happy!

 

And I must admit that even still, the world is beautiful, because God made it so…

And He tenderly appears when we lose perspective and calls us by name….

And we know that all is well, for He has risen!!!

–LS

It beats going to the Gym!

To look at the pictures, you would wonder why I balk at the thought of getting out and getting some exercise…

 

But I do, often. A wall of inertia must be overcome to drag this comfort loving home-body out into the elements. There are so many factors to consider:

The COLD. The bundling up just right but not too much. The fear that this will be the time I fall and hurt something, or suffer some cataclysmic life-changing event. Then there is the sheer work of it.  (X-country skiing may be about g-l-i-d-i-n-g but first there is the push, and it is most definitely WORK. Ditto that for snowshoeing, only there is no glide!)  All these factors rise up in protest at the prospect of getting out in the wild white outdoors.  Oh how grateful I am for Jim’s sanctifying leadership!  He sees to it that my objections do not win out and I am almost 100% of the time grateful to have gotten out and gotten some scenery-laden exercise!

The Highline Trail, Canmore:

 

Sundance Canyon, Banff

 (*I have loved a wonky picture since my first roll of film with my Brownie camera)

Upper Bankhead, Banff:   

Lake Minnewanka…

Home–the place I love best.  The fire-pit out front vanished (almost!) this week:

–LS

Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Ps.116:7-9 ESV