Food for Thought, Winter

Scenes from a Recent Snowstorm

55 Comments

Northern woman that I am, I love the look of the landscape during a snowstorm, the way it is pared down to its essence in color, not quite monochrome but certainly muted. When there is a snowstorm—and to a certain extent in the winter in general—the landscape has a soothing quality that provides me with a much-needed rest from the exuberance of spring, summer, and fall. Yes, by the time dreary March rolls around, I am more than ready for the glorious burst of spring. However, from somber November through frozen February, I am grateful for the quiet that comes in late fall and winter.

Here are scenes from a recent snowstorm:

On a less soothing note…COVID is ripping through Maine, and the positivity rate is 18 percent, the highest it has ever been. (And to think that last June the rate was below 1 percent. Those halcyon days.) The hospitals are overwhelmed, and I’ve heard that beds with patients are lining the halls.

Clif, Dee, and I are hunkering down, grateful we’re in a position to do so. We are well aware not everyone is as lucky as we are. Also, we’re aware there is a high likelihood that we’ll all eventually come down with COVID, which probably will be circulating around the world pretty much forever.

However, we want to give the hospitals time to recover from the onslaught of patients. If I’m unlucky enough to have to go to the hospital because of COVID, I want a bed in a room. I do not want to be in the hall, tended by folks who are completely frazzled. I’m also hoping that sometime soon antiviral drugs will be readily available for an effective treatment. Finally, I am hoping that COVID will mutate to something that is more like a cold, unpleasant but not an unpredictable killer. In the meantime, I’m sticking close to home and wearing my KN95 mask when I go out.

Despite the nastiness of COVID, things could be worse. On a recent episode of the podcast Radiolab, I learned about the year 536 AD, when there was “A supervolcano. The disappearance of shadows. A failure of bread. Plague rats.” Holy cats, that’s a lot of bad things to deal with all together.

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Now, on to something more upbeat…Nifty posts from some of the lovely blogs I follow:

What could be better than a winter scene? How about one with a sunset and the red splash of a cardinal? On Cimple, a fabulous photo provides all three. 

From Whippet Wisdom, different kinds of listening and music. This post certainly made me smile.

For the biggest, most fabulous sticky bun, check out Touring My Backyard.

Thistles and Kiwis features gorgeous beaches and mouthwatering food. Oh, New Zealand!

Judy, at New England Garden and Thread, makes an excellent case for going south for the winter.

 

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I haven’t shared any music videos lately, and here’s a beauty—Yasmin Williams: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert. 

I’m an anxious person who lives in an anxious world. Williams’s soulful, cascading music never fails to make me feel tranquil, and lately I have started my day by listening to her. Also, note how Williams uses tap shoes for percussion. Clever, clever!

55 thoughts on “Scenes from a Recent Snowstorm”

  2. Lovely winter photos. Also, if you don’t mind my asking…. I’m also trying to hunker down as much as I can, and also looking to upgrade my masks, which I would order rather than check them out at a store. I’ve been looking at the N95 vs KN95, and wondered if you think the KN95 worked out for you.

    1. So far, the KN95s have worked very well for us. They are massively more protective than the cloth masks, and you can feel this as soon as you put them on. You can still breath, of course. We do throw them away after eight hours or so of use.

  3. Beautiful snowy scenes! The restfulness of deep winter is a good thing, hunkered down (even more so due to C-19), when we can rest and renew. I’m enjoying staying cozy at home, reading and sleeping more than I do the rest of the year.
    I’m also enjoying Yasmin’s concert, thanks for sharing. Stay warm tomorrow, it sounds like we are in for a very cold day!

  4. Beautiful photos. I love the quiet that snow brings. It has a beauty all of its own.
    In England Covid is running wild too, but, as you say, let’s imagine it getting weaker and weaker until it is like getting a cold.
    I have managed to steer clear so far, and will do my best to stay that way for as long as possible. I wish that for you and your family as well.
    Thank you for the links. 🙂

  5. It snowed so my next question is whether or not Little Green is on the job. Covid is definitely not going anywhere right now that is for sure so we need to exert caution as we go about trying to live life. Thanks for the shout out, and that is a wonderful Cardinal shot, and I’ve never, ever seen a sticky bun that large, but I think I’d like to. 🙂

  7. Beautiful beautiful winter scenes and pictures Laurie and may you and yours stay safe and well in these extraordinary times. Thank you so much for the mention and for sharing the wonderful Yasmin Williams music video too 💜 xxx

  8. Your snow images are beautiful. I love the winter quiet of snow, too. Covid is bad here, too (our positivity rate is currently 29.29% and a state of emergency has been declared for the hospitals). Smart idea to hunker down. We’re doing the same although that might come to an end tomorrow if my husband has to teach in person rather than remote (fingers crossed for remote!).

  9. Wowza, those are some big trees you grow in Maine! Beautiful pics!
    Covid, ugh. We’re at 22 percent positivity here in Massachusetts, and are hunkering down as well. How lucky I am to be retired from teaching these days!

  10. Hunkering down is the way to go at the moment. Mrs T has been told that she will be offered treatment medicine if she catches Covid because of her medical history so there is some out there.

    1. Hunkering is indeed the way to go. Glad to read there would be treatment medicine if Mrs. T catches Covid. Fingers crossed that she doesn’t! And you, too.

  11. You and Robin are snow lovers! I loved it once when I was younger. You’d think I’d love it now that I don’t have to drive to work in it, but now it just seems cold after the initial falling. I enjoy it when it’s fresh, for about an hour or so… I like doing photography in it but then I want it to GO AWAY! 🙂 🙂 🙂

      1. I think so. If Katie weren’t sick I’d probably be hibernating at the lake in Alabama now. I”d like to spend a month in Arizona too. Alabama at the lake isn’t that fun in the dead of winter.

    1. So true about the Tiny Desk series. I’ve discovered lots of wonderful musicians that I’d never heard of. Austin City Limits is also excellent. Listening to Alejandro Escovedo on Tiny Desk right now!

  13. There’s nothing quite like the quiet that comes with snow. Fog provides it too, of course, but snow-quiet is the best quiet. The photo of the trees covered in snow is marvelous. And you know what I realized after moving to Texas? You can smell snow coming, just like rain. I’d never noticed it in real snow country, but down here, there’s no doubt that one of our occasional snows is on the way.

  14. It is so very interesting to read these positive attributes of the cold, snow, and the ‘disappearance’ of colour … which your photographs convey so well … for it is an alien concept to me. As for Covid – I had my booster shot recently. The wearing of masks is still mandatory in this country and our overall numbers are actually coming down. Of course the pundits predict that a fifth wave is on its way. Keep warm, keep safe, and enjoy each other’s company.

    1. Thanks, Anne! Glad my blog shows you a different world. I feel exactly the same way about your blog, and I am always fascinated by what you post.

      How lucky we are that we enjoy each other’s company. Also, there is huge overlap in what we like doing in our free time.

      Stay safe! Very smart of your country to require masks, and I’m glad to read your overall numbers are coming down.

  15. I saw snow for the first time when I was nineteen and looking through the window at it, I was amazed at the silence of snow! So beautiful….softly falling on the window ledge….. I can well imagine winter being a time of rest and restoring energy, and every other season is so busy these days.
    I loved Yasmin Williams tranquil music. Even when we were young Paul always enjoyed putting on quiet music, and we got into the habit of doing that every morning rather than listen to the news, saved our sanity many times!

    1. Beautiful description of your first experience with snow. So glad you loved Yasmin Williams. Paul had the right idea of starting out the day with quiet music. Gave you a chance to center before going forth.

  16. It looks so cold…no wonder you are hunkering down. You may have guessed I am not a snow lover even though it looks pretty..except when it turns to grey sludge…! Hoping to get my booster next week – here they are being offered after 4 months with the idea of protecting the community before Omicron gets into the community. Think we are resigned to probably getting it at some point. Ho hum.

    1. It is cold. Even colder today. Hope you get your booster next week. We are all boosted. Still lying low, doing our small part to give our overwhelmed hospitals a chance to recover.

  17. I’m so concerned about hospitals. Never before have I had to think twice about the hospitals in a state I might plan to visit. Never have I had to wonder, “If I have a heart attack or a car accident or a bad fall, will I get care?” It was always a given.

  18. Thank you for including my cardinal sunset with your beautiful snowy photos!!🙂 We’re also back to hiding out as our state keeps setting COVID records and never go anywhere without our KN95 masks. I hope their projections that this variant will peak and decline in the coming weeks is somehow true, but I’m very concerned about the rapidly changing guidelines and push to accept this as our new normal in the middle of such a major surge. Love the music and glad your family is able to stay safe together surrounded by the beauty of the season.🙂

    1. Yes, yes. Sigh. The beauty of the season is great comfort. And with reading, playing board games, and streaming, we are never without pleasant things to occupy our free time. Speaking of which…we are coming down the homestretch with “Stay Close.” Two more episodes to go. Can’t wait to see the conclusion. Wowsah, what a show! Thanks for featuring it on your blog.

  19. Beautiful images and I know you enjoy the silence of winter that cloaks your region. 🙂 …. and I’m confident you will make the best of thinking down. Stay safe & good luck. … OH … and thanks for introducing me to Yasmin Williams. Wonderful … now I will search to see if she has something fitting for a beach walk.

  20. COVID is spreading very rapidly here too, but we are being told that Omicron is a milder strain and that most of the people being admitted to hospital are unvaccinated. Although infection rates are much higher than 12 months ago, deaths and the hospitalisation rate are much lower, so it does appear that the trend is moving the direction you were hoping for towards the end of your post. But meanwhile it’s definitely safer to stay home a lot, wrap up warm and enjoy a good book – that’s what we’re doing, even though – compared with your situation in Maine right now – the weather is currently not too bad.

  21. OMG. Yasmin Williams! A multi-instrumentalist on one instrument. I went over to iTunes and she’s got 3 albums and YOU introduced me! I love the percussion and the way she uses the guitar and it was so nice to hear her talk about that. Wowser. I’ll be getting one of those albums and maybe more… I am so sorry about your Covid situation. It’s bad here, too. The governor declared an emergency because the hospitals are full. I’ve gone to noble masking with a KN-95 and cloth–which makes my rosacea flare after it’s been on more than half an hour, so I have a face smeared with anti-biotic and steroid cream periodically. Yesterday I was in a LONG post office line in a PO that had been closed for two weeks and had only one staff member on site–guess what caused that. Then I had some errands. Last night I already had a rash on my cheeks. Ugh, but I figure I’m a lot safer from Omicron. Our snow is gone except for a patch here and there. I love the bench with the little Buddha on it. Stay safe and warm, Laurie.

    1. First, how wonderful that you love Yasmin Williams enough to be one of her albums. Yay! My pleasure to introduce her to you. But very sorry about your face! Hope the situation improves soon for you, for me, for all of us.

  22. I’m perfectly content to enjoy snow pictures from my blogging friends rather than experiencing the cold for myself. Perhaps I should be a snowbird (or a permanently relocated Yankee, ha!) Thus far, our ground is still snow-free, but that might change this weekend. Bet Monkey will love snow!

  23. The snow is beautiful, Laurie, and it is peaceful. When I was young, and had the horse, I went down to the barn in the early morning darkness around 4:00 AM, walked out to the pasture and found him standing in the woods, watching the snow come down. I stood with him for a while, a shared moment in time.

    Yasmin is a wonderful musician, and I thank you for introducing me to her music!

  24. Appreciate so much your sharing space with me – I get such a thrill each time I see my name on your posts! (a little vanity?)

    Gosh, just when you think things are getting better, it just socks you one in the gut. Keep safe & sane, Laurie!

  26. Lovely photos of snow Laurie. Last week we had snow one day – huge fat soft flakes and it started to stick. I was so excitied! A friend was visiting and we were talking about her staying over if we got snowed in. But then it changed to sleet and then rain. It seems this Omicron variant is more like a cold if you have had all the vaccinations and are otherwise healthy but you are wise to stay safe. Whoever thought we would still be being so cautious this far along?

    1. Rain in winter is always dreary. Give me snow instead! As for being so cautious…Right? Last summer it seemed that we would be able to put this all behind us. Now, not so much. It does seem as though Omicron is more like a cold, yet in Maine, the hospitals are jam-packed with folks for whom Omicron is more than a cold. When the hospital get past their crisis point, we’ll venture out again.

      1. It does seem that this variant gives a milder illness for most but for the unvaccinated or those who are a bit vulnerable it is still serious. And why take more risks than we need to?

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