No matter what the weather, local popcorn celebrity, Orville Redenbacher is always ready to welcome visitors to Valparaiso, sitting in the Central Park Plaza in his characteristic bow tie. My parents and I couldn’t resist snapping a photo on this frosty afternoon. However, Orville is certainly in for more comfortable weather as the snow melts and Spring comes into view.
Good morning Indiana! Dawn is breaking over another snowy white winter day. Everywhere icicles ornament the rooftops so that Valparaiso looks like a town of gingerbread houses, each one an individual masterpiece.
This glittering silver perfection commands a magic unto itself but can also make for treacherous driving conditions when you discover that your brakes don’t function quite like they do on dry roads. To everyone not working from home or on their way back from a weekend visit with family or friends, drive carefully.
If you read the title of today’s post in the chipper Scottish accent of Billy Boyd, you might be a Lord of the Rings fan. However, I could think of no better way to describe the world outside. Even with forcasted temperatures of negative 7℉ coming to town this weekend, I can’t help smiling when I look out my window to a woolly white landscape that sparkles in the morning sun with a dusting of the finest crystals. Winter came again. Wherever you’re going today, be careful on the roads, wear a hat and allow yourself to be inspired by the marvels of a frozen wonderland.
I’ve been putting off packing up my Christmas tree since New Years. It’s a warm, glowing reminder of one of the happiest times of year and recalls Christmas Eve’s spent with my family, listening to my dad read us all our favorite stories. It’s a magical season full of light and laughter and I can’t wait until it comes again.
However, for now, it’s time to make room for spring and all the new life that comes with it. The deep reds and greens and sparkling silvers of winter must eventually give way for fresh colors and longer days.
Winters in the mountains can be a little unpredictable. One day, it’s a perfect blue skied, sunny day and the next, it’s blizzarding sideways. But no matter what the weather, there’s always time for a hike. With the temperature settling at a whopping 12 ℉ we set out through the untouched snow for some winter fun on this particularly windy day. The best adventures are the ones that leave you with a few stories.
The icy wind stayed mostly at our backs on the way in and dissipated somewhat when we turned around due to a couple of blistered feet. As the flurrying snow subsided we were able to see down the valley to our left and enjoy the views despite still hunching into the wind with masked and goggled faces. By the time we arrived back at the car, bits of ice had nested themselves in my hair and eyelashes and we all looked like some approximation of the abominable snowman. We gratefully sipped hot chocolate and munched on cheese and crackers as we hit the road back home after a day well spent.
When the weather outside is frightful, I make sure to bundle up with a few of my favorite things. My mom, the knitting queen, always ensures that we are outfitted for the great outdoors, whatever the sky decides to do. Each fuzzy cabled sweater, pom pom hat and set of Jan Brett mittens is knit with great care and love in every stitch. Today, huge fluffy flakes drifted downward like white cotton to settle over lawns and rooftops, finally transforming the world into the winter wonderland I’ve been waiting for. I can’t wait to don my winter woolens for a stroll through town as the world reigns in the new year.
The spark of Christmas cheer is finally catching, spreading like multicolored wildfire. December has arrived and brought with it total blackness by 5pm every night. However, while evening rules the skies these days, the world below celebrates the spirit of the season with a festival of lights at the end of each and every day. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
This weekend for the first time all year, I sat up and glanced out my window to find dawn breaking over a world glittering with the first kiss of winter. The season of rising before the Sun, bundling up to scrape off my car windows and driving to work in the dark has begun. This is one of life’s great irritations for many people but I can’t help squealing with excitement while penguin waddling across an ice covered parking lot every time I see frost on my windshield.
Has Jack Frost visited you yet?
Girl of Steel 