So far,this has been an icy winter in the snow belt. It’s a bit unusual, in that we often have lake effect snow but don’t get much ice. The first picture below is of our container garden we planted this summer. It was our first year of doing the container gardening, and we have plans to expand it next summer.

That bench in the left corner tends to mark how much snow we’ve gotten.

This picture shows the same bench, even earlier in January last year so you can see the difference we’ve had already in snow amounts. (Again in the left of the picture, just below the tree.)

Even with the ice though it is still beautiful.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Winter is far from over with. Up here, we rarely cancel for snow; if we did school would never be open, but we do cancel for ice.

• 

Only time will tell what the rest of this winter brings. Super cold temps are forecasted for the next week or so, which could bring more lake effect with it.

• 

If there is anything I’ve learned about winter it is that even the darkest of winters, there is beauty. Even in the harshest of winters, there are days so breathtaking I wish they would last just a little longer. The sunsets and sunrises seem more vivid, more colorful, and the crisp air is so refreshing. Spring will come again, but for now, we treasure these long winter days when the earth, and our souls, find a little rest.