Sunlight and Shadow

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." - John Ruskin

Stars give way to a bold and blue morning. The woods begin to glow with light, snow glitters, light paints a wash of cobalt blue across the sky. Dark pines are luminous in the cloudless sunlight morning. Light drifts through the wood catching the trees and casting layers of light and shadow on the snow. Wind playing with the oaks and maples sets light rays dancing.Ice in the shadow does not melt but ice touched with rays of sun begins to thaw sending rivulets of water down the hillside and across the clearing. Where water moves into shade it freezes only to melt when touched again by the sun. Creatures seem more active in the warm winter sun. Chipmunks have come out of their dens. The red squirrel is here today. The gray squirrels are racing up and down through the trees. Flocks of siskins come and go. The birds and animals are feeding voraciously as though they know that another storm is on the way and they must prepare.

"The adventure of the sun is the greatest natural drama by which we live..." -Henry Beston