Samhain Moon of the First Snow
With the moon of the first snow in its last quarter and poised next to Jupiter the early morning sky here on Shadow Mountain was crisp and lovely. Below these two hung red Mars and bright Venus. They’re gone now, hidden behind the faint gray-blue of imminent sunrise, but they’re worth seeing if you’re an insomniac or get up well before the sun.
The lodgepoles retain flocking from yesterday’s snow, our third this winter. The solar snow shovel cleared our driveway. Here on Shadow Mountain the snow comes straight down, linear bands of white falling with a certain relentlessness. Little of the northwest wind driven, parallel to the ground blizzards familiar to those who live in Minnesota. We get the romantic beauty of snowfall, white grounds and flocked pine trees, then the snow leaves. Nice.
Our dogs love the snow. Gertie puts her head down and pushes her muzzle through the snow, then rolls around in it. Vega and Rigel wander, nose to the ground in search of critters inconvenienced by the wet stuff. Kep slides on the deck, runs through the mounded snow.
Glad winter has finally come to Shadow Mountain.
