At noon today it was still -2 degrees. Not warm. It also was still snowing like crazy. It also was blowing. The wind chill reading was about -15 degrees. School was cancelled today, which means I work from home. It has been a gift, despite the rescheduling I will need to do. I have gotten lots done that I would have had to do late today or simply to put off until another day. I still have time to get more done, too.

At first light it was snowing hard. Even once the sun was well over the horizon (or I assume it was over the horizon), it was hard to see. I could just make out the barn across the field. You can barely see the snow plow turning onto our road in the photo above.

I was hoping to get out and ski at some point today–take a few loops around the field. It is awfully cold out there, however. I will go out. I need to take advantage of the snow on the ground. I can’t imagine I will last too long, however, not today but I may stick it out just for the beauty of it. When the snow swirls and sticks to the trees and susurrates under my skis I feel a peacefulness that is hard to find otherwise.

I have the wood stove fired up so it feels warm peaceful inside at the moment. Outside, the snow piles up. The wind tosses the snow around and occasionally buffets the windows. Birds find the feeders and then hide in the trees, a little more out of the weather. This weather offers a visual reminder of how lucky I am to have this home. It’s not a day to be out for long.

UPDATE: The high temperature today was -1 degree. I did go for a ski, was outside for just under an hour. It was cold. My eyelashes got crusted with ice from my breath and the wind was blasting from the north, but it was fun. The snow was perfect. Maybe I can sneak in another one before dark tomorrow.