Shortly After 4 AM.......

I was awakened to a somewhat familiar, albeit nearly "foreign" sound! As I listened, I could hear my heart thumping within me with *delight*! As I faded back into a sleepy slumber, I remember thinking "Is today a HOLIDAY?

Yes, I know I am making too much of the weather, but when it snows, something inside me rejoices, and I feel just like a child again! I do know that snow creates all kinds of problems and work, but believe me when I say that I do most of the manual snow removal on our premises! It has never injured me nor caused any damage. I have found that shoveling snow has actually left me feeling rejuvenated! I really do enjoy doing it.

Perhaps part of the joy in shoveling comes from memories long ago and far away. My dad worked second shift for a time while I was in junior or senior high school. I am not sure when, but I do remember going outside at about 11 o'clock, along with my mom and older brother, to clear the driveway for Dad. It was such a happy time, and the idea of being up late at night was just so much fun!

I decided to take some pictures of this thrilling day! This one was taken in pitch black darkness....no tripod, and a RIDICULOUSLY slllllooooooowwwww shutter speed. Hence, the BLUR!

So, for grins, I turned the camera to "Night Mode", and this is what I got....still with a rather slow shutter!

This picture was taken in total darkness as well. Now you can see WHY I was mourning so deeply at the thought of losing my dear camera friend the other day! Oh, and for fun, I decided to take a picture of the top of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce from the porch. For this picture, I firmly planted my elbows onto the railing and snapped!

Although this isn't a lot of snow, I LOVE the way the lights filter through the snow, glowing and making such a beautiful radiance! I remember being appalled as a kid....thinking it was a sacrilegious thing when folks went out and tugged on their shrubs, ridding them of snow so as to not interfere with their holiday lighting experience. As an aside, I had asked Mark and Ben to remove the Christmas lights last weekend...I had taken the ones off the railing. Now, I am glad they left them. They are just so pretty decked in white!

Just before dawn, I took one last picture...this looking into the woods......

As I thought about all of the memories of snow and cold, I could never imagine NOT experiencing them!

***Being out in the cold sledding and feeling like your toes were going to fall off, they were SO cold...BUT, you kept on going just because it was too much fun and you COULDN'T stop!!!!

***Making a snowman....rolling his parts across the lawn and using up all of the snow! Then realizing that his "parts" were so BIG and HEAVY, you needed LOTS of help to put him together!!!

***Skating on a pond or the lake and being able to dream of flying across the ice.......

***Being on the receiving end of a snowball shot so hard at your back, you thought you might pass out from the blow!!! And then getting REVENGE!!!!!

*** Coming inside and having hot cocoa waiting, complete with those fun little marshmallows floating on the top!

***This one goes back a LONG way.....but, hearing the bells on the harnesses of the horses that quickly and efficiently cleared the sidewalks....My brother knew the owner of the stable that did this, and it was like pure magic when those horses came by......What a heartbreak it was when the city bought those machines that cleared the sidewalks......