Beautiful Winter Blues

 

Cerulean pool

Deep depressions bloom in snow

Colors of the light

While out snowshoeing last weekend, I noticed one of my favorite winter phenomena- BLUE snow! In the holes made by ski poles, blue light glowed out across the endless white field before me. It looked like blue flowers blooming in winter. (This photo is truly what I saw last weekend! There are no filters applied. I don’t think the photo does it justice. It was much more beautiful and awesome.)

So I came home to investigate how this happens. It doesn’t happen all the time so I was curious. To paraphrase from an article on Webexhibits.org- Sunlight is white light. As sunlight penetrates deep snow, red and yellow light is absorbed  and filtered leaving the blue light. Deeper snow filters out more of the other wavelengths. That is why we see blue when we look into the depressions. 

The beautiful blues of winter!

Accumulating Quiet

Flake by flake

Hour by Hour 

Inch by inch

                        a dusting,

                        whitening,

                        a hushing.

Flake by flake

Hour by hour

Inch by inch

                        blanketing,

                        covering,

                        quieting.

Flake by flake

Hour by hour

Inch by inch

                    a hiding,

                    disguising,

                    a nestling.

Flake by flake

Hour by hour

Inch by inch

                    cocooning,

                    silencing,

                    all-stilling.

The snowstorm arrived! The world is covered in white.

It began last night. Peeking out the window before bed, there was a delicate dusting of snowflakes across the ground and rooftops. The snow was offering a lullaby to the world.

Looking out the window this morning, the dusting had grown to inches and then feet. Driveways, sidewalks and bushes were hidden by a smooth blanket of white. Cars were disguised by drifts and cascades of snow. The only sounds heard were those of snowplows, snowblowers and scrapping shovels.

The snow continued its accumulation during the day. This blanket of white brought a stillness to the regular hectic schedule of life. People cocooned in their cozy homes enjoying the joys of a snow day.