If This Was November or December.....

I think I would have turned cartwheels! I love snow for Thanksgiving or Christmas. But this...well, it is a bit hard to swallow......

I decided to wander out for a few pictures, as it seems that people living only a short distance from me have not had the pleasure of dealing with this wet, heavy snow!!! So, here goes!

This is a maple tree located about 20 feet from the front porch. I have never seen the branches hanging down so low. When we bought this property, we experienced the ice storm of 1991. The branches of trees were encased in a glaze of about 3/4" of ice. It was terrible and we lost a great deal of treetops. This storm, I do believe we will also lose many branches, as they cannot hold this much weight. Ususally, by midday, the snow has fallen to the ground, but the wet snow just keeps on coming, and the branches are getting heavier and heavier. In spending a couple of hours outside shoveling this morning, I heard many sounds of splitting trees in the distance.

The term "whiteout" has taken on a new meaning! *Everything* is white out!!! I was going to venture further down the driveway to take a broader view of the house, but after shoveling through several inches of what felt as heavy as *stones*, my energy level was vastly diminished!It is easy to see that everything is now white!

When I awakened this morning, the trees were swaying back and forth as though the winds were gusting heavily. Praise God, they have lessened and it is rather still outside right now. We are so grateful to have received *only* about 8 inches of this snow, as we were told the potential was for amounts of 2 FEET! Considering the great effort Mark put forth to clear our driveway, I think any more than we had would have been nearly impossible to clear out with the ATV.

As I looked into the woods, it seems like I was surrounded by a sea of white!

I got to thinking about those pioneers who came to this country to settle it so many years ago. Today, with our Doppler Radar and (fairly) accurate forecasts, I cannot imagine how disheartened those folks must have been to see a day such as this. Just think....if their firewood supply was running lean, how would they have felt, wondering if they might freeze to death as they could not get out to cut? The burden of shoveling this messy snow today was greatly lightened by reading the forecast.....highs into the 50's by Friday, and into the 60's on Sunday!

This is looking into the woods where I photographed the deer late yesterday evening. It changed so much in just several hours!

Lastly is the lilac bush in the side yard. Poor little bush looks so forlorn as it sags under the weight of the snow.

So, if you are one of the fortunate ones who did NOT have to shovel your way out the door today, consider yourself lucky! And for those like me, well, brighter *warmer* days lie JUST ahead!