first snow

I’m not going to show you an image of snow even though I saw my first little fluffs of snow this evening. I know we had some flakes dropping last week also in the wee hours of the morning but I didn’t see them. I worked at the Monastery today decked in all the regal of winter fashion with my thermals on underneath. We were still cleaning up leaves and yanking frozen dead annuals from the flowerbeds, it was as cold as the balls on a brass monkey because of the brutal north wind howling down on my son and me.

Tonight when I saw those first flakes of snow swirling in the night air I couldn’t help but think that I many places in our world they would call this “snowing”, where as most of us here in CanDada just shudder and think of what’s to come not just a few flakes in the air.

In all this cold and with our trees stripped bare by the same north wind that buffeted and oppressed us working outside today I still found these marvelous warm colours on the leaves of a Smokey Bush (I’m sorry I don’t know the proper name for this shrub just what we call it here in the province.) I was really stunned by the colours of these leaves and thought I’d share some warmth with you in this otherwise cold account of my day.

leaves on a Smokey bush

Remember what they say in cold countries like Canada, Finland, or Norway: there is no such thing as cold weather just poor clothing choices. So as most Canadians hear from their mom’s, when growing up here “Make sure you wear your coat.”

May all your days be warm and toasty and your hearth burn bright.
I consider statements like the above to be like an antidepressant in terms of what I’m really thinking about the damn cold. I say them so that maybe in cordiality I might find some warmth from what I otherwise am not looking forward to even with all the beauty winter provides.

GP