The Magic of Winter

I sometimes go on and on about how wonderful winter is and how much fun it can be.

Huh.
Well, it was fun this weekend in a wicked odd sort of way.

Saturday it was snowy and drizzly and warm, so my Kenosha friends and I went hiking. Ugh. Amanda and I broke trail with snow shoes. It was deep soft smushy snow, hard to walk in. Charlie jumped from one track to the next all the way down to the creek.

There the walking was easier as we could walk in the water or on the rocks.
We all took a break mid valley. It started to rain lightly and busting through the soft snow that was knee deep was tiring.
Amanda was cuddling Charlie while the girls discussed making a snowman.

And....

The snowman was completed!

We thought we'd try cross country skiing after dark, but the rains came hard and driven. With the deep snow we already had, it was not a good thing. The weather forecast said the heavy rain would change to snow and the winds would become wicked.

The forecasters were right. The rain did turn to snow and the winds came.

So after chores, we went out to see how the driveway looked and how the ridge looked.

Justin came down and did a bit of plowing over the slush in the lower driveway. All that rain combined with draining off the hills collected as slush and water in the lower part of our driveway. It would later freeze into a horrible mess of ruts and footprints. 
Such is winter.

The ridge view was incredible. In this shot you can see the trees are iced and frosted with snow. We didn't get much snow but what snow there was was being blown by the high winds. There is a spot where slushy water was across the road from the night's rains.

The kids had to go check out the road. They were amused at the fact that there was no traffic.

I took photos of the beautiful ice.

We discussed the sanity of my friends driving back home. They said they wanted to do some cross country skiing and then they would make the decision.

Amanda and I stayed out of the winds and watched this scene unfold...

I must say it looks like they are explorers forging their way in no man's land!
The town plow had been through and had busted up the drifts, but with those winds, the drifts came back rapidly.

Lauren and her oldest son joined us.
And the adventure was on...

We stuck close to the woods where the winds were blocked.

But even close to the woods we had snow tornadoes...

Then Lauren and the kids took off down the long slope to the Tree Tunnel.
I didn't.
I watched.
I knew how hard that trip would be coming back up the hill and against the winds....

I tried to point out the humans...

Our guests are gone.
The winds died down.

And this morning I saw this as I was making coffee.

Winter.
I love it.
I hate it.

It sure can be magical.

Last thought added....after chores.
Wicked. Driveway drifted. Subaru iced in its parking spot. Roof vent is covered buried which has never happened before.
Can't get to it.
Can't get out.
Sigh.