Most years, winter creeps up on us gradually, with a few cold days here and there before Thanksgiving, maybe even a few snowflakes flurrying.  But this year winter hit us early and hard...

...but with such beauty that it's hard to be very upset.

There are those that are already grumbling about the snow and cold, about how long the winter is going to be when it hasn't really even begun.

But I'm not one of those people.  I like winter and the rest it brings to the earth...and to me.

Besides, the way I figure it, if I choose to live in Indiana I'm not going to wish away 4 months of my life every year just waiting for spring.  Life is too short to wish away today in anticipation of a tomorrow that none of us are promised.

So, like my hydrangeas, I bow my head to the season of winter and will hunker down by my fireplace for the next few months and enjoy this time of rest and rejuvenation.

Even if it happens before my fall pumpkins are tossed to the chickens...

I do love...

...the first snow.