Every other or third day since 1 December 2008 we've had some snow. With @three & 1/2 feet on the ground already, this weekend we are receiving 1- 2 inches of freezing rain (last night) and from 4 -12 inches of snow today. This morning we had snow storm warnings, now we are alerted to the possibility of a blizzard! Outside my studio window flurries of flakes cascade earthward in a gyre. The beauty of this weather outweighs all trepidation, fears of cold or death recedes before the decorative beauty of snowed trees and the glittering crystalline flakes that take your breath away

Red oak leaves still cling to last summer's colors. The trees branches spread like a dancer's or supplicant's arms catch a bright layer of snow in contrast to their dark wet bark, a reminder of the earth buried below the snow pack waiting patiently for the sun and plow, a conspiracy of defiant seeds.