Winter Wonderland

December was a very snowy month here and January seems to be following the same theme. Without going through each storm of the last couple of weeks there is nearly three feet of snow on the ground this morning. Most of it is soft and fluffy not able to hold up even my widest snowshoes. I snow shoed for a while yesterday and sank down at least a foot even with the snowshoes on but it was great to be out. Only Woody the golden retriever tagged along but even he tired quickly in the deep snow. Interestingly he sank up to his chest even in my tracks. Today is one of the days that I tell folks about when they ask how cold it gets here in the winter time. The mid morning temperature is two degrees below zero and there is a strong northwest wind that makes it feel even more uncomfortable. Not a great day to be outside, in fact even the dogs are delighted to be in the office enjoying the warmth of the wood stove and not in their kennel. Mae my older pointer is snuggled right up to the stove soaking in all of the heat she can. I suppose that her short coat and lack of body fat makes her easy to chill. But it is beautiful to the eye. The air is crystal clear with millions of stars at night and beautiful blue skies during the day. This picture was taken out of our front door Sunday morning before the latest snow storm. This weather makes me realize how fortunate we are to have a house that is relatively easy to heat and a garage to keep our firewood and cars in. Not having to scrape windshields after the latest snowstorm reminded me again of our good fortune.