I’m a winter person, though I was born and raised in the Deep South. I love everything about winter – turtleneck sweaters, boots, pretty coats and scarves, fire in the fireplace, the smell of the air, and Christmas!  But most of all, I love the way winter trees look, whether in snowy Colorado or sunny Louisiana.

Maybe it’s because I was born in a place where winter is scarce that I love it so.

If I were a tree, I would be one of these, I think.
Don’t they look all toasty warm, blanketed in the snow, huddled together like that?

The snow was so deep that the powder came up to my knees.
I don’t complain about powdery snow.
I think these evergreens like it as much as I do.

Then one day, the sun came out, and the wind blew the snow off of the branches.

I strained my eyes and peered into this forest, seeing nothing but trees.
I kept staring, not wanting to look away. 
This image is in my mind forever so that I can view this forest whenever I want to do so.

And then I chanced upon comic relief in the form of a snow cap perched precariously atop this tree stump.

Who could begrudge me a view like this – from a peak near Breckenridge, Colorado
where snow and trees stretch for miles and miles?

Is there anything more fantastical than trees surrounded by the white of snow and the blue of sky?