Ready, Set, Snow!

I'm the last in the race, I know, but it's still an amazing race and worth-recording.

Long before the onset of winter, it was predicted that it would be a warm winter. I tended to agree, especially when the middle of October arrived and there was no sign of snow at all. In all my six winters since I came here, snowfall always came in mid-October, but not this time.

Apprehension began to rise within me. I dreaded the thought of snowless winter. The reason I love this season is the presence of snow, without it I might be ranked among the winter haters. Or probably not because there are many other features of winter in this polar region that I delight in. But snow is still the best element of winter for me.

Finally, lots of snow came by the middle of November, just a day or two, enough to blanket the ground with the thickness that satisfied me and to coat the trees with fluffy whiteness.

After that, temperature rose again and slowly melted the snow. It's been dark, showery, snowless and slushy thereafter.

And then came another heavy snowfall after we moved to our new apartment. That heaped a thick layer of snow over the frosty ground that stayed for days or weeks.

views from our new apartment unit

Finally, the temperature held below zero, and the snow stayed put, up to this day.

Once again, this lowly "snow queen" is having her fill of the pleasures that winter brings, enjoying another season in a snowy wonderland. As always, her heart bursts with joy and gratitude for this season's gifts.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Linking up with
Mosaic Monday
Our World Tuesday
Saturday's Critters
Sunlit Sunday

Northern Lights - When the Sky Turned Green

In my latest aurora blog, Tangerine Clouds Across the Auroras, I mentioned that that was just a prequel to a bigger show that appeared the following night, and that I was going to post it in the future. Unfortunately, that future stretched out to 2016. There have been smaller aurora appearances since then, but I still have to keep a vivid memory of the Oct. 7, 2015 appearance.

The northern lights that time were so strong that even when the afternoon was still bright, the movements of the dancing lights were visible across the blue sky. When the afternoon deepened, the whole sky seemed to be layered with an organza cloth in pastel green. I was out on a mission that time so I didn't have my right camera. Even then, I used the point-and-shoot camera that I always bring with me and took a few snapshots. As expected, they're quite blurry.

As soon as I came home, despite my churning tummy due to hunger, I went to our backyard and started to take longer exposure shots. By then, the aurora had begun to light up intensely and my camera worked non-stop until the lights subsided. Watching the lights banished my hunger.

Here are some of the images I took.

"O'er all the widespread northern skies,

How glows and waves that heavenly light,

Where dome and arch, and column rise

Magnificently bright!"

-from The Aurora Borealis by S.G. Bulfinch

"Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of the celestial lights, who does not vary or change like the shifting shadows."

-James 1:17

Linking up with
Skywatch Friday
Mosaic Monday
Through My Lens

Whisking Back to Fall

We're now in the middle of winter but I still have some cherished fall memories to keep. I don't want to leave out this chapter of my life's chronicle. As I've said before, my life is interwoven with the seasons, and thus flows with them.

I won't fill this page with a thousand words, just pictures which  can be more eloquent in certain subjects such as this one. I originally meant to post separate blogs according to location, but since I'm posting way behind, I settled on putting them all in a nutshell.

My first post about this year's autumn  is  Jaunting Through the Countryside. But this is beyond the perimeters of the main city.

This time, I'm treasuring up my photographic memoir of the golden season that has slipped by.

Fall in our former neighborhood (we've moved to a nearby area last Nov. 25):

Around the university hospital:

By the city river:

Some parks:

Other places:

Frost-laced autumn leaves:

Fall visitors - the waxwings:

Autumnal skies:

"Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile."

-William Cullen Bryant

It's been a colorful autumn and definitely a vibrant memory! It's another of the countless reasons to be grateful to our generous Creator who has "made everything beautiful in its time."

More pictures can be viewed here: Recalling Autumn

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters
Skywatch Friday
Through My Lens
Mosaic Monday
I Heart Macro
Our World Tuesday
Sunlit Sunday