Winter Beauty ~ First Sightings

As promised I wanted to share the Winter Beauty that I have not only noticed but savored over the past 5 days. A very busy 5 days they were leading up to our family celebration yesterday. I'm sure everyone had their own last minute surprises to tackle before Christmas. Mine started the actual day I posted the Winter Beauty challenge last Monday.


One brief phone call changed all of our plans for the day and set the tone for the week. My son called to say my granddaughter was running a high fever and he needed me to keep her, as she couldn't return to preschool. Both he and his wife could not be out of work. So Nana & Papa came to the rescue. Taking her back the next day to meet her daddy for her doctor's appointment revealed she had the flu. Just the kind of words you love to hear when you haven't taken the flu shot, it's 4 days till Christmas, you've done none of your holiday baking yet and you have family coming the next day to stay for a long weekend. We had one sick little girl to comfort and love on, so we decided nothing else mattered. Life was happening and the best we could do was to live it out as it unfolded.

But in the midst of the opportunities to live out the days given to us. I was able to see some Winter Beauty. For I knew that in the midst of the storm I would need the emotional boost now more than ever. So I kept my eyes and heart open to what beauty I would be shown. To borrow a line out of a familiar storybook. . . "To what did my wondering eyes should appear?" Let me show you in the pictures I captured. I wanted you to know for sure that I was looking, so concrete evidence was essential. (smile)

One of my favorite things about Winter is snow. Living in the deep south we are not blessed with the frozen precipitation that often. I know many would argue about snow being a blessing, but for me ~ seeing the intricate beauty that's locked into each snowflake makes it one. I have lived over 50 years and can't recall ever having a White Christmas, but this year was different.

Snow began falling early on Christmas day for us. As I worked to prepare our holiday meal it was a treat to look out my kitchen windows to see it's beauty. Big half-dollar flakes floated through the air and bounced along the ground. Before meeting up with a few hundred more to create a blanket that would change our horizon this morning.

WE didn't get as much as many others in the south, but we did have a WHITE CHRISTMAS!

I slipped out to take a few pictures through out the day yesterday and was tickled by the second Winter Beauty I saw. True it was created by the help of the snow, but I smiled none the less when I found it.

We have quite a number of "critters" on our farm, most known to us and sometimes others who are not. But these were made by our resident mouse chaser, Midnight. This was his first snow and curiousity caused him to venture out into the world of icy toes. Leaving behind paw prints for all to see that he was still on the job, prowling the premises.

My third sighting I have to confess that I expected, but was struck anew by the simple beauty of it's appearance.

I have been greeted most mornings for the past few weeks by these "Christmas birds." Not that they are called by that name but their brilliant red coats remind me of Christmas. Back in the Fall I hung a feeder in the peach tree outside my kitchen window so I could enjoy their beauty up close. Yesterday was no exception, except for the fact that the pair I had been enjoying brought along about 12 of their best friends with them. The impending snow and cold brought an urgency to their feeding. Every where I looked you could see Cardinals. Seeing one against the skies of winter is a bright flash of color on any grey day. To see one against the back drop of glistening snow is a Winter Beauty to behold. My photo doesn't give it justice for it is a little dark, but after all we did have heavy dark grey clouds over head. Making it's little coat of red stand out even more.

So, has your eyes been open? What have you seen that has touched you with it's Winter Beauty? Let the rest of us know by leaving a comment, just click on the comment link below. We only have 76 more days to be finding the beauty that goes unnoticed by the world at large. Be sure to check back in and read about the beauty that others have found.

Looking through rose-colored glasses,

Deborah