Finding Beauty in the Beast of Winter

Oh, what a bone-chilling winter it has been! I won’t sugar-coat it, it has been miserable. This has been the winter of never-ending snow, ice, freezing rain, sleet, and more snow here in the Northeast U.S., as well as parts of the South, the Midwest, and reaching into Canada. In fact, due to a weather condition called a polar vortex, many places around the globe have seen severe weather. 

The frigid cold around here has set records. Many mornings, I've awakened to temperatures in the single digits; the other morning, the thermometer read a mere 8 degrees. It was warmer in Alaska that day! Some people like the cold, some people like snow, and I respect that. But for me, winter is definitely not my favorite season. 

Still, despite the drabness and chill of it all, there is an assured beauty to winter, a serenity in the silence of new fallen snow. So to cheer things up while waiting for spring, I'm sharing photos taken around my home this winter, followed by winter art that I hope you'll enjoy. 

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I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently?
And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt;
and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."
~Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass 

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The birds of winter around my home  

Blue-gray gnatcatcher 

Robin in the snow (we see robins here all year-round)

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The Cardinal stood out like a picture fair,
As snowflakes struck its body there.
Upon a branch of the winter tree,
Nestled among the needles proud and free.
~Joseph T. Renaldi

In my area, cardinals are only seen in the winter months. 

Cardinal sitting pretty on a snowy morning

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The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
~ Robert Frost

Crow (taken with a long lens)

Crows on a snowy roof

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Coco loves the snow!

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Winter Art

Looking at winter through the eyes of an artist, you can see the majesty and beauty in the season. (I enjoy looking at the season much better than I enjoy being in it!)

Snowy Landscape at Arles ~Vincent Van Gogh 

Train in the Snow at Argenteuil ~Claude Monet

Beneath the Snow Encumbered Branches, Scotland ~Joseph Farquharson

Winter Afternoon, Norway ~Hans Gude 

Whitehall England in Winter ~Paul Maze

Winter Coast, Prout’s Neck, Maine ~Winslow Homer

Snowy Monday in New Hampshire ~Lilla Cabot Perry

Skating in Central Park (New York 1934) ~Agnes Tait

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Spring briefly visited the other day and brought lovely weather with temperatures in the 50s. Everyone smiled at Spring and then Winter got jealous, roaring back with gusts of freezing cold winds and dropping temperatures. As I’m typing this, it’s 19 degrees outside! There are local weather reports of a possible late March snowstorm next week. Winter is not leaving quietly this year! But Winter’s days are numbered. I saw a lone daffodil bravely poking her head out from a small patch of snow, a welcome sight. Spring is just around the corner!

©2014 JerseyLil’s2Cents all text and photos
Paintings in public domain (from WikiPaintings, WikiMedia Commons and Google images)