Pictures for Pam, Day 93: Snowy Porcupine

(+5 insets!)

As I type now it's 8:45am and SNOWING! When I first got up at 7am it was only wet out but no rain. As I got my day started I looked outside at about 7:15am and huge, soft, puffy flakes were drifting down from the sky. I could hardly wait to get out there to experience a heavy snowfall!

Have you ever walked in falling snow? It is a delightful experience. Soft flakes come down and land on your clothes and in your hair. If you're lucky, you can stick your tongue out and catch a flake there too! Depending on the dryness of the snow, you can often wipe it off of you before it melts. This morning's snow was extremely fluffy and though I had my umbrella with me, the flakes drifted down and under it and I got snow all over me! The snow was falling so thickly that I couldn't wipe it off fast enough before I was covered with snow again. It landed on my umbrella with a steady fluffy patter of "plump-plump-plump" and piled up so that I could actually feel my umbrella getting heavy with the snow sitting on top!

I walked up to the top of the hill where I take my panoramas and somehow managed to hook my umbrella into my clothes so it didn't fall to the ground while I held my phone and took pictures. I hoped the pictures would show the falling snow…and as you can see from the insets, I was successful! (The last inset I just took a few minutes ago--late afternoon--there is snow on the far hillsides and snow is coming down too!)

Walking down the drive to our gate, I considered turning around and going back inside because I would be soaked in no time if the snow continued to fall heavily. But 30 seconds later the flakes became much smaller and no longer drifted under the protection of my umbrella. I loved walking along this way, looking out at the snow falling down across the property. There is a very special peace when you walk in the snow. You hear the squeak of snow as it compresses under your feet but other than that, it's silence, serenity and a sense of peace in this beautiful scene. I discovered a long time ago that if you want to truly experience a type of weather, you must be in it--not merely looking out at it. Every kind of weather has a different feeling. Walking in snowfall is the most special feeling to me because of the peace that comes over me. It's similar to walking under an umbrella in the rain but 10 times better. :)

After returning to the house, I kept an eye on the snow which continued to fall for the next hour or so. Then it stopped, the sun came out and just like that the snow melted and disappeared. We are supposed to get more snow in the coming week and maybe it will finally begin to stick. I would love to be able to walk around in drifts of snow. A proper snow shoot would be super but I'm not holding my breath. It's not getting cold enough and not likely to. But I really enjoyed my adventure today and walking in the heavy, fluffy snow was magical!

Today's main picture was one I discovered in my archives the other day. I really love the way the pine needles look like a porcupine! It's another one of those surprises that makes you wonder how it wasn't processed to begin with! In fact, the whole folder is full of snowy gems and hope to get at least some of them finished for show-and-tell. :)

Pam, speaking of porcupines, have you ever seen any around your property? I haven't but I know they're out there. When Molly and her puppy found their way onto our property, we didn't immediately make them indoor dogs. We fed them and provided a very comfortably furnished Dogloo on the porch to sleep in. The pair would sometimes wander onto the BLM property nearby and one day the 8-month old pup came back with a bunch of porcupine quills on his nose and a few on a paw. Thankfully we were able to remove them ourselves. Until that day we didn't know there were porcupines in the area. It's amazing how many animals live around us that we aren't even aware of. Well, I sure do hope this is a pleasant Saturday for you my dear! *BIG HUGGGGGGS*!! :)

Explored on 2/10/19, highest placement, #3.