A heavy snow in the mountains is magical.  There is an almost total silence, broken only by the call of a bird or flutter of wings near the feeder. The heavy snow just deadens all noise.  Even the sound of the river is silenced.

Falling snow is mesmerizing.  It drifts and blows with the wind, and turns into a white out when the wind picks up enough snow from the ground to obscure all vision. Today it falls silently straight down.

A few tracks have appeared overnight.  Deer, of course, and probably the fox.  And then some tracks space a few feet apart – snow has filled in much of the depressions, but I think it was a snowshoe rabbit hopping about.  Now that it’s daylight, nothing is moving about, except for my dogs playing in the snow, racing and rolling about like children.  Who doesn’t love to play in freshly fallen snow?  With some luck, the turkeys, perhaps even the grouse, may visit later today, since so much of their food source is under snow.  Some bird seed and corn will be much appreciated.

The red pines have boughs laden with snow, and they drape downward. Red pines are meant to sway in the wind without falling over, because they have deep roots that hold fast in the soil.  But the branches can only stand so much weight, and will break and crack when the burden becomes too heavy.  When a gust of wind blow through, the snow is shaken from the branches, causing another kind of white out if you happen to be beneath the tree.

My view from my kitchen is my “nature TV”.  I can stand with a cup of coffee gazing out to watch the bird activity, and never get anything done.  As the snow falls softly today I decide I am not going anywhere, just staying in.  So here I am, with a roast beef in the oven and fresh bread rising in a warm spot.  Some days are just meant to be like this, a small break from the real work, with some joy found in the simplest task of cooking.

This is what recharges my batteries for tomorrow.