Frozen

"I'm not in Kansas anymore..."

I woke up this morning to a scene that I'm not accustomed to seeing.  I had gone to bed last night thinking that the weather was unseasonably calm and warm for a December in the Rocky Mountains.  I knew that a storm was predicted, but it came quietly during the night.  Unsuspectingly, I opened my front door in the pre-dawn hours to see a fresh blanket of white.  It covered everything.

Should anyone really be up at this hour?

This was the view from my front door bright and early this morning.  It's not exactly a Thomas Kinkade ("Painter of Light") painting, but I really like how the light from the street lamp illuminates the neighborhood.  I'm a Southern California kid and this is something that we really aren't accustomed to seeing.

My commute today was extra long.  It was literally measured in hours rather than minutes.  I texted the picture below to a friend of mine in SoCal to give them an idea of what it was like.

Brake Lights--I saw plenty of those today

It snowed all day.  Persistent but fierce flurries of snow flakes that never really seemed to stick, but also refused to subside.  Even though I'm not used to the snow, I took comfort from watching the relentless flakes swirl around the windows of my office all day.  I love the whiteness and the beauty of the freshly fallen snow.  It blankets everything and, if you're lucky enough to find a quiet spot to enjoy the moment, fills the air with a heavy, reassuring silence.

As I neared my home, the temp dipped below 24 degrees--nearly 30 degrees colder than last night.  But I was glad that I had a comfortable house and warm, electric blanket to look forward to.  So long as I can safely navigate the icy, slushy streets on my daily commute, I'll continue to enjoy the newness (at least to me) of these wintry conditions.  Let it snow!