Winter went out in its full glory last week – it was one of the most beautiful snowfalls we’ve had all season. The air was filled with sparkling flakes floating down for over 12 hours, and we got about 8 more inches on the ground. It was spectacular.
Hunkering down during the storm.
The day after the snowfall, I went to one of my favorite natural areas with a lake that attracts everything from herons and swans to geese and ducks; I’ve even photographed huge turtles there.
Going for the deep dive…
The air was clean and ever so breathable, the cold was invigorating, and an endless thick, white carpet welcomed me and cushioned my steps.
Forward…march! Look at those crazy footprints!
If you think my love of winter white makes me eligible for a visit from the men in white coats, maybe this list of twelve reasons (and I have more!) why I love winter can make a case for my sanity. 🙂
1. No spiders, stinging bugs, or creepy crawlies. This I cannot overstate!
2. No major time spent on yardwork, so our weekends are free for fun.
3. No heavy traffic when driving somewhere beautiful. Places like the beach aren’t clogged with people who don’t know what trash cans are for.
4. No unbearable, unbreathable, energy-sapping heat/humidity index of over 100 degrees.
5. No spiders.
6. Absolutely beautiful, contrasting, sparkling long-range scenery.
7. Coming home late at night without dodging tons of flying creepy crawlies around the porch light while trying fruitlessly to keep them from coming in with us.
8. No mosquito bites. Not being awakened at 2 AM by high-pitched mosquito whining in my ear, then spending the next hour not finding the little bugger, going back to bed at 3 AM only to be awakened by the same screeching at 3:10.
9. I love the look of winter clothes and being bundled up in layers and sweaters. I love snuggling under piles of blankets.
10. Ironically, we have to keep all the shades in the back of the house down during summer days because the sun is too strong and heats up the house too much (not to mention fading furniture!). I feel more closed in during summer than winter!
11. Way more birds at the feeder during snowfalls than in any other season.
12. NO SPIDERS.
At different points during the day, we had over 2 dozen birds at a time around the feeder!
That said, I do find beauty in all seasons. I love our organic herb and veggie gardens as well as taking photos of all of nature’s beauty.
Our rosemary plant thawing out. Love those droplets!
We’re now dealing with The Great Thaw, which is not a pretty thing. Spring didn’t work its way in, it pounced with temps in the 40s and now 50s, so our foot-plus of snow is melting so fast, the ground can’t absorb it. We’ve got mud puddles everywhere…not an attractive look on Miss Daisy’s little white paws!
Dozing Daisy after a good mud romp and a paw bath.
We’re part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop!
Everyday Adventures in Havachon Heaven 
Oh, how I love those gorgeous pictures. I took pictures of the same kind of little birds in a snowy bush just like you did. The “deep dive” shot…amazing. Great list of why you love winter I agree with most of it. We don’t have a beach so that one I don’t know about. Sweet Daisy you hang in there sweetie those puddles will be gone one day and you and Chancy will have dry ground to walk and run on again. Our snow melted and then we have been getting lots and lots of rain on top of the saturated ground. Pot holes in the roads and water puddles abound. Sorry about your cute, little white feet getting muddy. Love, hugs and nose kisses to you all from all of us!
Thank you Maggie, that means so much coming from you! We only have the last remnants of our beautiful snow left, and it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow into tomorrow night (would have been a wonderful snowfall!). So I think Daisy’s paws are going to be muddy and get daily baths for a while!
Your weather sounds pretty much the same as ours. It is drizzling rain here now and they have forecast rain today, tonight and tomorrow for us also. The rain has taken away all of our snow.
It’s nice to remember the loveliness of winter before that snow starts to melt.
It sure is!
I hear ya!!!! NO SPIDERS! yay! and I have to admit that I love it to wear boots and thick sweaters, they cover all sins from christmas perfectly :o) but I’m not a fan of snow&ice, so lets say we should have november every month…no tomatoes please, blogville, I have an umbrella :o)
I can certainly understand why you’re not a fan of ice!! Yes, October and November all year round, with maybe one small break for a flower-blooming May. But just for photographs, and just one month. 😉 And that’s it. Now, how can we implement this wondrous meteorological feat?!
Let me guess, you hate spiders. LOL I love those geese and swan photos. Swans are so amazingly beautiful. I’m sorry your wonderful winter is turning to mud so fast, that’s no fun at all. Hopefully it will cool down again soon and slow up the thaw.
How did you guess?? LOL Thanks, Mary, like you, I had to choose only a few of the photos I took of those elegant swans. It’s hard to stop! 🙂
I’m with you, I love winter too. But it often has a way of overstaying its welcome.
Especially when you’re dealing with an energetic pup like Penny! 🙂
Lovely photos. I wish we had swans here to photograph, but they rarely come to the Rockies. I love the snow too! I suspect Daisy isn’t so excited about it. As our snow is starting to melt, we’ve got lots of mud now, but probably not as much as you. Abundant sunshine this week. Take care.
You’re right, Daisy only like the snow when it’s frozen solid so she can stand high on top of it. 🙂
Those are all MY favorite reasons why I love winter!! It’s especially nice when walking through the woods not to have to worry about the flying bugs. And the spiders. It doesn’t seem to matter how clean your house is, you can almost always spy a spider.
Thanks for joining the blog hop!
Those nasty creatures always find a way in. I have a feeling they’d get into a vacuum-sealed concrete building!
You have some really good points about why to love winter! I hate spiders too, but what we really dread is the ticks. My hubby and I were just discussing our battle plan for them this spring, and it reminded me of one reason I don’t like spring.
We had a few warmer days but the temps dropped again today, so even though we lost some snow we’re not really into our thaw yet.
We have to take down our bird feeders in the spring because of bears, so that’s another good point too…I love seeing the birds. I actually had slacked on putting my feeders out this year, but it was your photos of all my favorite birds that inspired me to finally get them out and filled!
Ah yes, ticks. I got Lyme Disease years ago when I used to hike every weekend, so ticks are definitely on my list as well. (I’m okay with butterflies, fireflies and ladybugs though! 😉 ) Bears are an excellent reason to take down your feeders (!), but I’m flattered that you found my photos inspiration to put them back up this winter! 🙂
Oh no, Lyme Disease, that’s pretty rough, isn’t it? I’ve known a couple people who had a really hard time with it.
I agree, butterflies, fireflies, and ladybugs are all good though! We’ve had problems with our bee and butterfly populations around here, but I think they’re finally coming back.
I heard about the problems bees and butterflies are having. It’s scary – millions of bees and some birds are dying due to dangerous crop pesticides. The repercussions are already starting to show. And there’s a huge and ever-increasing drop in the Monarch butterfly population because of pesticides killing the plants they need, deforestation, and climate change. It’s awful how Big Corporations can totally disregard such things, all in the name of greed. (Getting off my soapbox now…)
Fortunately, I recognized the symptoms of Lyme Disease within the first two months of contracting it. I had weird joint pain, so I went to a doctor who specializes in such things and he put me on a two-month regimen of antibiotics, after which I tested clean. But I’ve heard that remnants can lie dormant for years, so I’m ever vigilant! I know of a couple people who have suffered severely and permanently because they didn’t notice any symptoms; I feel so bad for them.
I used to use pesticides in my own garden….ugh….but now I garden organically, which is far more challenging! But I have to wonder if that is why our bees and butterflies are now coming back.
I think the people I know with Lyme probably did not catch it as soon as you did, so I hope that means you’ll have no issues down the road.
That could very well be the reason why your bees and butterflies are coming back. We also started gardening organically last year (we even buy organic seeds), and it definitely is more of a challenge. So far we’ve found the easiest plants with the highest yields for us were rainbow chard, rosemary and basil – that’s not very many, is it?!
I was using up all of my old seeds, but am buying organic seeds now too. I’m going to try kale this year….I’ve heard it’s very good for humans and dogs, and easy to grow. I have no idea what to do with it though! LOL
Last year I mostly grew beans, because they’re the only thing that consistently do well!
OK, We need to save this list and read 5 times when we are feeling down about the weather! Beautiful photos!
LOL Especially when we’re complaining about the summer heat! 😉 Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
Your photos are awesome in this post, bigger is definitely better! There is beauty is all seasons and sadly, we don’t get snow in my part of Australia, but I do miss it sometimes. Spring is just ahead for you – another time for a lot of wildlife activity at your place.
I can’t get over how good your photos are!
Thank you so much, Barb! I really appreciate your kind words. I love nature photography, I used to go hiking every weekend and find the most amazingly unique things in the woods that I would photograph. And forget about the time I went to botanical gardens – I must have taken a thousand pictures that day alone!
You should pursue your photography, you have a feel for it!
Thanks so much, Barb, what a lovely thing to say! I would love to do that, I love being out in nature and capturing those little details so often overlooked. Maybe I’ll get back into doing it more frequently, I need to make more time for the things I really enjoy. 🙂
I don’t like heat, but I don’t like the bitter cold either. I also like longer days. But I hear you on the bugs. You should come up to our cabin sometime. June-mid Aug it is terrible! You sure got some fabulous pictures! Thanks for joining the hop!
I agree about temperature extremes – neither way is good. A nice permanent autumn would suit me perfectly. 🙂
Great photos – very artistic. I love the “bottoms up” goose photo and the photo of the little birds in the tree during the storm.
And I share your distaste for spiders.
Thanks Rachele! Those little birds are the cutest things, this is the first time they’ve come around in such large numbers. 🙂
Hi Y’all!
Oh Daisy, you do look so adorable!
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Why thank you so much, Hawk! 😀
Beautiful pics! We missed the beauty of a white snow blanket this winter, the number of snowfalls was ONE. We had greyness and wind, wind, and wind instead.
Wind is one of my least favorite types of weather (only second to a wind/rain combination!). I take all this time blow drying and fixing my hair, then one step out into the wind and I look like I just rolled out of bed. Ugh!
I really enjoyed your list! It makes a lot of sense to me. The photos of all the wonderful birds are fabulous. It must be amazing to watch swans and geese in the icy water. They’re so graceful and beautiful and with the water and the snow it’s a rather magical picture of peace! I have wondered about all that melting snow. It’s just a shame we can’t have a little of your runoff! 🙂 Daisy will be happier when spring has fully sprung, I think!
Thanks Debra! Yes, Daisy will be MUCH happier when spring temps finally arrive. I love seeing swans and geese in the lake when there are still some ice floes around, I feel like it adds depth and contrast to photos and the scene in general. It’s amazing how such frosty waters don’t phase them! It’s also interesting that the lake is a third melted into water, a third thin ice (we heard the ice crack and saw some of those geese fall through the ice! They just swam, they didn’t care.) and a third completely frozen and snow covered. Watching them walk on a lake is so funny – they sort of skate-slide rather than step! I’ve always said that by now there should be some sort of pipeline or transport system in place that takes all the excess rain and snow melt out to your area or wherever water is so badly needed. I’m sure they could have done it if they’d tried!
That’s a good list – I’ve enjoyed the snow this winter too, and it doesn’t last too long!
Thanks, Meg! With all this rain and sudden spring-like temps, our snow is disappearing much faster than it appeared…unfortunately!