The Day After the Snow

There is the quiet beauty that is found after a snowfall. And it starts on a clear morning after a storm when the sun rises slowly in the east.

Sunrise

As it comes up and graces the world with its sunny smile, the brilliance of the light gently kisses the tops of the snow covered trees.

Gentle kisses

The lights come on in this once sleepy world.

It lights up the snow covered world

Branches are laden with the weight of yesterday’s storm.

Branches laden with snow

Trees patiently await the melt off so that they can once again lift their branches and breathe.

Redwoods heavy with snow

The local roads are covered, never to be plowed.

One of our roads

Corners are shady, snow is deep, and the road quietly rests.

One scary bend in the road!

As the world comes back to life after the snow the snow beams and sparkles in all its glory.

Sparkly snow

As the cold seeps into my fingers and toes, I slowly walk back to my home greeted by the warmth that resides within its doors.

Home is where the hearth is!

The snow melts. The world returns to the quiet beauty that was there before the storm.

Thank you for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Thursday!

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The Beauty of Snow

I love the snow! As it falls everything gets really quiet. There is something hypnotizing about the gently falling flakes! I could sit for hours watching it, which I did yesterday. I shared some photos yesterday, but wanted to share a bit more of this beauty with you today! I have a few shots in this post, and a video that you can watch too!

Let’s go and check it out!

On my back deck

The dog loves the snow! Here he is eating snow! I swear that he is smiling!

Astro

A break in the clouds as the sun sets

The sunset

I love the way the snow sparkles!

The sparkling snow

When I got up this morning it was absolutely glorious! Clear skies and blue and white everywhere! Here is the sun rising in the foothills.

The sun starts to rise

One more shot!

Sunrise today

I did take a video yesterday of the gently falling snow…If you would like to see how beautiful and peaceful this can be…

As I am unable to drive the roads yet, I am grabbing my camera to take some more photos to share! See you tomorrow and thank you for stopping by!

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It’s Snowing!

Today started like any other day. I got up, had a cup of coffee, wrote my blog, and decided to head off to work early today due to an impending storm that was to finally give us some snow. Here is a photo of the incoming storm clouds.

Morning Sky

I got into work earlier than everyone else by an hour and a half. Immediately I started having computer issues. I could not get anything to load and I was getting error messages. I looked out the window wondering if we were ever going to see the snow. A light rain was falling across the canyon but I could see that there was snow at the higher elevations due to what looked like white-out conditions there.

After a couple of hours, I ran an errand for the company while my computer was being put back to rights. As I drove back up the hill the light rain turned to light snow, but it was nothing that would amount to much. About an hour later, while I was on the phone with a co-worker, I said that if it was going to come down the way that it was then it should at least stick. A few minutes later I noticed that the vineyards were starting to turn white. Looking out of my window I could see the snow sticking to the deck. Time to leave!

As I drove I took a video with my cell phone. If I can get the video to work right, I will post what part of my drive home looked like. After an hour and a half of it snowing, here are some shots of what it looks like outside right now, but add another two inches…

Looking up our driveway

Big flakes

Three inches in an hour and a half

Looking towards the sky

I also took a couple of videos so you can hear how quiet it is and so that you can watch the beautiful snow as it falls! That will come later!

I hope that you enjoyed my photos! Stay tuned for more snow photos!

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Missing Winter

This has been a very strange winter season. We have not had the usual rain and snow which we would have had by this time of year. December looked promising, giving us twelve inches of rain. In January we had about an inch and a half of rain, and so far this month we have less than a half inch. The prediction for this week is warm and sunny. I am having rain and snow withdrawals and decided to devote today’s post to the winter white that I miss so much!

Our biggest snow, since we have lived here in the Sierra Foothills was on December 7th 2009. The National Weather Service was predicting 3-6″ of snow overnight. They were wrong to my delight! It began snowing the evening before. It was a gentle falling snow with medium size flakes. We actually ended up with 18″ when all was said and done. Here is a photo of what we saw when we opened the front door in the morning.

Looking out our front door

And it was not done! It was still coming down!

Of course we had to go play in it!

Playing in the snow

My husband got out the tractor mower to clear the driveway.

Plowing the driveway

I took a walk around the yard…

The greenhouse

Pristine

When the sun broke through the clouds we ventured out in our neighborhood. There are no snowplows where we live. They cannot get them up here due to the narrow windy roads. Here are a few shots around the hood…

The lake behind our house

Frosted pine needles

Dyer Lake

The road to our house

I am hoping we will still have rain, if not snow, before the spring and summer months arrive. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you have a great Monday!

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Crystals of Ice

I wrote a post the other day letting you all know that we were slated to have snow. OK, so I get a little bit nuts about snow…Just a big kid I guess. To help it snow, I do the snow dance. My husband tells me I beat out Elaine from Seinfeld when I do the snow dance as the worst dancer in the world. I tell him that it is necessary so that I can catch the attention of the Snow Fairy. Well, I did the snow dance and caught her attention. While I wanted inches she teased me by delivering some of the tiniest flakes that I have ever seen, and dust she did! What was unexpected was that she delivered more dust the following day. Braving the cold yesterday morning, I ventured out to capture photos of what she left behind…

Here is the tease she gave to us!

The dusting of snow

Looking out into the backyard

I was so cold, and went back in to put on a few more layers and then went back out to take a closer look at what the Snow Fairy left behind…As the snowflakes started to melt and the cool temperatures settled in overnight, here is what I found to my delight! Crystals! Now if you can look closely, you will see that each of the spikes coming out of these crystals appear to be tubes! Ready?

A field of ice crystals

Crystals on a seashell

Crystals on dry foliage

Ice Crystals on a sprinkler head

One large crystal

Aren’t they amazing? I hope that you enjoyed today’s photos! Now go out and enjoy the day, and thanks for stopping by!

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A Light Dusting of Snow

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the snow! Give me a little, or give me a lot…I don’t care how much! We have had a tiny, tiny bit of it this season, but nothing that stuck to the ground. The weather forecast for today:

Today’s forecast

See the snowflakes in the forecast? Wahoo!

With snow in the forecast, and me getting excited about this possibility, I thought that today I would feature a light dusting of snow!

Snow dusts the backside of the house

Isn’t it pretty? I love the way the snow crunches under my feet!

An area of our backyard

Snow on the swing

A dusting on oak

We are not expecting much, and I am thinking that it will look something similar to the above photos. Although, one year they told us we would have 6″ and we ended up with 18″!

Have a great Wednesday! Thanks for the visit!

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Twelve Cubed

12/12/12! Or, twelve cubed. It will be another hundred years for this day to be on the calendar again! It is the last of a cycle. 01/01/01; 02/02/02… So, here are 12 photos from Decembers past!

A bluebird in winter

Going for a swim

My house in December

Needle me

Quaint

Resting

Snow in December

Snow up close

The leaves are hanging on

The road as the snow slowly melts

Up close to an icicle

We are still here!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!

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It’s Snowing!

My wish came true! Here are photos of our first snow of this season!

It starts!

It’s coming down a bit heavier

More!

Stop action shot

Not enough to make a snowman, but it sure is pretty to watch the big flakes gently fall! Enjoy the day!

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Snow on the Dogwoods

One of the tales that we heard when we first moved to the Sierra Foothills was that you should not plant your garden until “it snows on the dogwoods.” We were told that the local tribe of Indians, the Maidu, believed that this was a sign that spring had finally arrived.

The native dogwood trees here are an April blooming tree with a huge white flower.

Dogwood bloom - Photo from Wikipedia.com

Beautiful isn’t it?

Well, today it is snowing on the dogwoods! I was wondering about this old legend, and so I looked it up. What was not surprising is that this is just a tale, and the tale is not specific to our area. What I did find from various sources is that this time of year is known as “Dogwood Winter.” Just like we have an “Indian Summer” in the fall, we experience the Dogwood Winter in the spring.

Indian Summer is a warm spell that occurs just into the fall season when the weather has cooled down. The Dogwood Winter similarly occurs when a cold spell occurs as the spring days are just warming up. These early spring snows though are needed by some of the native plants in our area. In early spring, a cold snap like the one we are experiencing, as an example, stimulates the blackberries canes to start growing.

Back in the olden days, farmers would watch nature to determine when they should plant their crops. And, interestingly enough, history records that there are three of these cold snaps before we can plant our gardens. And, this is not limited to our area here in the Sierra Foothills.

So today I mark the calendar as the second snap as one occurred during our time in Hawaii. One more to go? We shall see if three is the magic number!

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Snow in the Sierra Foothills

Well, you received a preview yesterday of the snow here in the Foothills, but here are some that do justice to the beauty!

After it snows

Birds leave their mark

Almond blossoms

Nectarines in the snow

Plum blossoms

Rhody's in bloom

The sun breaks through

As the sun starts its retreat

This morning we were greeted by this beautiful sunrise!

Sunrise

I hope that you enjoyed the scenery!

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