April Surprise!

The snow had all gone returning the earth to its drab dead skins awaiting another season of warmth to liven it up. Cautious wisps of green were springing up on protected berms and in those spots where they will soon be unwelcome. And I actually spied a lone daffodil against the warm wall of the old Anglican church in town. Then came yesterday.

The world was obscured in a falling blanket of white.  Despite our having removed our snow tires and stowed our skis away it fell as though expected.  The good news was that it refused to stick.  The warmed damp earth refused to let it rest. There were just great puddles–and a flurry of larger and larger flakes in protest.  And so we went to bed, the landscape still dreary brown but the mountains freshly powdered.

We woke to this:

Now I am well aware that likely noone, including myself, is really hankering for more snow pictures!  I’d rather look at daffodils, crocuses, forsythia blooms or whatever is springing up where you are.  But since this is what I have to take pictures of here, this is what you get!

I had to chuckle at this sign so appropriately obscured.  It is announcing the street sweeping that is to commence this week.  But first for the snowplows!

Despite my preference for green and flowery at this time of year, I had a lovely quiet walk through the fresh powder.

And I was glad I had not yet packed away my snow boots or wool sweaters!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wherever you are, I hope these photos will incite you to look more closely at the beauty of spring around you, and maybe even to share a glimpse?!

–LS

Please don’t feel too sorry for me, by day’s end as I’m posting this, all this snow has largely vanished back to brown earth and we are feeling fortunate, as the word around town today is that Banff (just down the road) got a whole foot of snow!

Our Wintry World

When in snow country do as the locals do…
Our favorite pastime this month has been cross-country skiing. We are having a lovely respite of above-freezing days which makes it a whole lot less stressful to pause for picture-taking without feeling you will freeze to death and without having your glasses fog up leaving you in a blinding cloud…
This is the local terrain we frequent…

 

 

 

 

For a change of scene we sometimes head down the road to Banff to have a look around. How different it all looks in winter…

 

 

 

 

Snow-sculpting and ice-sculpting are popular pastimes here…

Back at home the warmer weather lured me out for a walk, which has become rare for me these days. It was delightful ( :

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Lev.26:12

 –LS

Accounting for November

It’s strange the way the weeks speed up at year’s end and the days flip by…

I have only a handful of photographs to represent the whole month!  It’s an awkward season for taking pictures.  The once-golden aspen beauties have turned to skeletons.  And the snow hasn’t perfected its purifying magic on the landscape quite yet…

But there are hopeful signs of snow to come…IMG_20161119_114203254IMG_20161119_114218387IMG_20161119_114438214and in the meantime man steps in and makes it here so cross-country ski season can begin,  slowly but surely.

I’m in no hurry.  I love being in my nest all cozy.  And morning by morning I get up, open the blinds and snuggle into my quiet corner on the couch to watch the day begin…

morning from my window

And all through November, at day’s end I pull out a pen, practice lettering a random alphabet (copied from the Internet!), and write down a word to capture some aspect of the day…

These were some of my favorites…

P1220888P1220889P1220890

P1220891P1220893P1220894P1220895P1220896P1220897P1220898P1220899P1220900

And there is my record of November, all but lost in the shuffle of Advent season!

( :

–LS

She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet…
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come!  Prov.31:21,25