Under the Frosty Moon

It was a perfect winter day today, with the sun sparkling on the newly fallen snow and not a breath of breeze. We started our day shovelling out the end of the laneway, cause of course the snowplow came by after our snowblower guy (who showed up at 1:30am). When we were about 1/2 way done Carm flagged down a passing backhoe (thinking that it was our neighbour), and it turned out to be Mike, the young man we met a few weeks ago when we were picking up the dog's meat. He made quick work of the rest of the hump and then came in for a coffee.

It would have been a perfect day for snowshoeing, but as it turns out we were going into town for Juliette's birthday party. At Eleven years old she's my second oldest niece and growing to be quite the young lady. I was talking about snowshoeing with one of the other guests and came up with the bright idea of going for a moonlit tramp tonight. It seemed like a brilliant idea - and oh so romantic. Well, by the time we got home the temp had dropped to -13C and a bit of a breeze had picked up (think windchill)... The moon was incredible... but... I'm here on the sofa with no snowshoes in sight! If I get a bit braver later I'll be sure to let you know!

My pleasures today were spending a bit of time with Juliette and Erik (8). Also, the snow created beautiful views everywhere we looked. There hadn't been much wind during the snowfall, so every branch was piled with several inches of snow. Everything was beautifully iced with thick white fondant.

And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.

Roy Bean