Winter Wonderland

I awoke to the gentle purring of the cat. Merlin urged me to get up and feed him this Saturday morning. I opened the drapes to the new day and found a light snow falling gently. This was no snow storm, but one of those rare days where the world felt as if we all lived inside a snow globe and the owner had just given it a good shake.

This day I had a lunch date with my Brother-in-law and I was to meet him in Buffalo, about 30 miles to the west. Not quite sure how the roads would be, I grabbed my boots, gloves and an extra scarf along with my camera. I suspected that as soon as I left the bustle of the suburban sprawl and entered the quiet countryside on my drive that the scenery could be magical.

Todd and I had a nice lunch and a good visit. The restaurant was warm and inviting and the conversation was good. We watched the snow fall as we ate and chatted.

As I headed back towards home, I decided to veer off the highway and take some of the smaller county roads.

With the temperature hovering around 15 degrees, this was not quite a day for a long stroll in the snow. But the beauty of the winter wonderland urged me to drive on.

The rolling hills and small family farms made me feel as if I was way out in the country. Only a few miles to the east the big busy city hummed along with crowds of Christmas shoppers, but here I was, alone except for the horses standing in the farm yards.

I arrived home safely and had a cup of hot tea. I told Merlin all about my nice afternoon as we sat in front of a crackling fire.

On the evening news, the weatherman was quite excited as they had received many calls, emails and photos of an extraordinary weather event taking place. The callers wanted to know if the strange sights were Northern Lights, or something else. The weather gurus were stumped by the photos and descriptions they were getting. Soon it was determined that the phenomenon was "Light Pillars", caused by the abundance of ice crystals in the air catching the lights of the city and reflecting them upwards. I, living in a "hollow" with many tall trees could not see these lights so I got this photo from the library of photos sent in from viewers.

It's not so bad living in a snow globe! And this one even has special lighting effects!