And so it begins again, as it has so many times before.
I wake long before light to heavy silence. You can feel it. A pressure of sorts, weighty, though not oppressive. I know.
I feel my way to the window and there is the view as I expect it to be and as it is for nearly half my days here.
The branches of the blue spruce at the same time laden and light. The ground below bright and glowing as snow continues to descend in darkness.
This is the time the land shines and shivers. It is her time. When she is allowed to be solitary. Nothing to give or take. Demands washed over in white. Pure and pristine in stillness and strength. If Artemis was a season, she would be winter here.
She is out there, singing her own song, loudly but only for herself, with no one around to listen, comment, critique. I hear her in intimate moments as the sound of falling snow. I try to respect her space, walk lightly upon her with downy steps, and bow my head (and roll my eyes) in apologies for the sudden barking of my dog as he finds the tracks of a coyote that recently passed our path where we walk in the twinkling crystal light of fresh falling morning snow.
Gin Getz 
I spent winters at Glacier Point in Yosemite for several years. Since the road is closed, I strapped on cross country skis and shifted into winter mode. The snow makes everything quiet……….even more so with a brisk storm tossing flakes in my face. Ahhhhh…..
What a beautiful image, Sunny, you have taken me there, to your memory.. Ahhhhh! Yes indeed!
I love the dampening sound effect that snow brings to our urban area. I can go out very early and for a rare moment, there are no cars, trains, plains, engines of any sort. That silence is a gift.
I know, I understand. I hear it, even from the city, I remember… the wonderful weight of the silence of snow.
Such gorgeous images.
Such a gorgeous world!
More great photos and your descriptions are … well, I love to read them.
Sorry I have missed reading much of your posts lately, along with all the other bloggers I have neglected. My life has been a bit crazy the last few months. I have rarely posted anything myself.
Ann, I hope all is well and will be “here” when you’ve time to check in, and any time you can share more.
All is well with me, thanks Gin. Working full time and then with all the other life stuff outside of work, AND, some chill out time :-) doesn’t leave me much time to do all those things I REALLY like to do. But, the job is going to be back to part time after next week.
In such we are reminded how precious time is… never enough to do all we want to do, it seems. Including a bit of what looks like nothing. Call it chill out time, or down time, meditation or reflection. Seems like society prefers if we just keep on keeping on, rather than taking the time to catch our breathes.
True Gin. Quiet time is necessary, for many reasons, even just to sit in peaceful quiet with God. He does tell us it is important to rest, and we will accomplish more than if we keep busy being busy! I have found that I do much better when I have margin time between one think and another :-)