Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Frosting On the Cake


Some mornings you wake up and wonder what you did to deserve such a beautiful day. Yesterday morning was one of those days. I must first remind you that this is California; California below 1200 ft. The foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains get a dusting of snow maybe once a year in the winter and if we're lucky, the snow lasts for a few hours until the sun come up.
Now, to all my blogging friends out there who live in the Northern US, please forgive my childlike excitement and blatant, enthusiasm but...., It snowed yesterday and I took almost 300 photos of this place..., and Oh my gosh it was beautiful...., and I was here to see it..., and I only came inside to eat and get warm..., and I built a snowman, a real snowman...., and the dogs ran around with me..., and look how BEAUTIFUL IT ALL IS.

Except for the Heavenly Bamboo berries, all these photos were taken during the storm in the morning. Later, when there was more light, I took this close-up of these berries because they looked like ornaments out there. Against the snow they glittered like a red string of lights.

I don't know what it is about snow. This is what I consider one of the "gifts" in my life. I want to be out in it...., walking, by myself..., feeling the cold and listening to the QUIET. I know that it can be deadly. I know that we couldn't drive down the road to town and have gotten back up to the house easily yesterday. I know, now, after the power went off all day, that we would need a wood stove and a decent gas generator to survive this weather longer than a day. And I know that we are at the age where living in this kind of weather all Winter would be much harder than we can imagine but.... look at this. A birthday present I didn't expect. A wonderful coat of Mother Nature's silent rain. The picture postcard of my dreams right here at 3 Dog Farm.

The animals all did quite well. Maggie wasn't sure at first but then she got into it. She enjoyed following me around, trying to find any good smelling stuff under the snow that she could eat. Carl acted like he was born in "snow country". He took to the whole thing as if it was just another day. He has been off his leash since the last Rattler crawled back into it's hole for the Winter, so he was running, flat out, all over the yard, playing in and eating the snow. Since he is such a low rider, we had to dry him off from top to bottom every time he came in.
The goats were not as happy about all of this as the dogs. They didn't like the numbing cold, the frozen water in their buckets or the fact that I was running around like a crazy lady taking pictures. Brownie was no where to be seen. Annibel was in the garage trying to stay warm and the chickens were inside their house and not saying a word.
Please indulge me for the next few days. There will be more pictures. This is a major event in my life. Each time that it has snowed in the last few years I was gone, down in the Bay Area. This time I was home and, not only did it snow for most of the day but it's so cold that the snow is still all over the area this morning. Which gives me an opportunity to go outside and play some more.

I have found my "inner child" and I'm indulging her. I know this makes no sense to people who live with snow all Winter and I can see that 5 or more feet of this would bring life to a halt for a while. But just give me one Winter. I want to live in.., oh.., maybe Montana, for one Winter. I could go over the mountains to Nevada. I could just go up to Lake Tahoe. Just once..., for one Winter...

But yesterday, for a few hours, I was living in snow country. Now, excuse me while I go outside and play. The sun is shinning, the snow is all around us on the hills and I have MORE pictures to take....
(Please remember to click on these photos to see them close up.)

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10 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful! I can understand why you wanted to take so many pictures!

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  2. HOORAY, HOORAY, HOORAY, you snowbaby you!!! I'm so happy to see the beautiful frosting Mother Nature spread on your cake! And it looks like there is enough for you to have your cake and eat it too! You described perfectly what this former California girl feels all winter now that I'm in Michigan. My neighbors think I'm nuts! Some of them head for Florida as fast as they can and don't come home until April. Quel dommage!
    THE HUSH OF SNOW. Is there a gentler phrase in all this world? I can never get over that silence. So peaceful and calming; it makes you want to whisper. Then comes nighttime ~ a wonderland of white, magically aglow in the darkness. Clement Moore described it perfectly, "The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of mid-day to objects below".
    I knew Mr. Carlton would have a blast----aren't dogs the cutest things to watch playing in the snow?! And isn't it downright amazing how powerful those little legs are, plowing along. I was especially delighted to hear that sweet, elderly Maggie was even able to enjoy it.

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  3. Oh Connie! I know, I really do.
    I remember looking out the window of our house in Sutter Creek and seeing a white soft layer of what looked like frosting, yes, and i may have had leaky eyes, I know i was smiling, and in a big part is was the pristine, the silence. It felt so peaceful. Lucky you!!
    xx

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  4. Connie I know exactly how you feel. Although we get more snow here in Oklahoma there is something about the first good snow we have here that is exhilarating and incredibly peaceful. There is a quietness that is wonderful... a gift in our normal cacophony of sounds that we become so used to that we ignore them for the most part until we have the gift of quiet with the snow. Both of my girls love to romp in the snow and bite at it. It builds up in the feathers around their legs and is a pain to dry them off, but it is such fun to watch them buck and play like pups again, especially Chloe who will be 10 on New Year's Day.

    You don't have to worry about me getting bored with snow photos. They make my inner child sing.

    Helen

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  5. What fun for you! I enjoy the peacefulness of a quiet snowfall - the big flakes that drift down from the treetops are my favorites - it makes me feel like I'm living in a SNOW GLOBE! And then, I release the CORGIS - they run and frolic and create corgi trails with their porpoise-like movements through the white snow - playing 'follow the leader' - and returning to the house for their breakfast and a nap! It is delightful indeed!

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  6. I also live in a place where they ask me why? do I love it here, and I grew up in Texas with heat and ice, no real snow...I am jealous. We got flurries, but no real fluff to bounce around in...if you make a snow angel you would sink, I see how high it is on the dogs!

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  7. Yes it is beautiful but as you say only for a while! Enjoy the pristine whiteness while you have it this one special time. I always feel sorry for the four legged critters who are living with/in it. My dog adores the snow, but she is CO. born & bred.
    Poor Brownie he is hunkered down somewhere keeping snug.

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  8. What a beautiful sight. Growing up in Nevada City, California we used to get a lot of snow. Now living in Alabama when we do get snow I am like you a child again. Your pictures are wonderful. Last Saturday we got one and one half inches of snow it was pretty while it last. Have a wonderful day. Madeline

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  9. love em and love when we get snow here... but shhh dont tell anyone i said that LOL
    love hugs and grits (i had some for you guys last night... bacon and cheese)

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  10. I share in your excitement and hope I get the same. It's the same here in Eastern North Carolina. We might get a dusting once a year. Last year we got a good 8 inches at my house. I'm hoping for it once more this year! Please!

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