The Beauty of Winter

The Beauty of Winter

Each season has its beauty and often this is in the eye of the beholder. Some like the Spring with the blooming shrubs, trees and flowers. Some prefer the Fall with the color of the hardwood trees' leaves. While others like the Summer with its variety of greens and little wild flowers along the roadside. I'm one of those people that love all four seasons for each has its own beauty, even the dead of winter.

I have a friend that comments on how much he likes the late Fall when all the trees have dropped their leaves. He says he can see more since there's no leaves to block his vision nor the lens of his camera. He's right to some extent but then you have basically three colors; gray tree trunks, gray rocks, green of the evergreen trees, and shadows. That is until the snow comes and then the basic colors become grays, greens and white.

Winter, especially when there's snow, has its own beauty, the quietness of the woods, the softness of the snow and the brilliant white shining among the gray tree trunks and rocks. The snow also decorates the tree limbs and the needles of the evergreen trees with a shadowy white layer, just enough sometime to make it look as if an artist simply passed their brush against them. Boulders among the trees look like cupcakes with white marshmellow frosting. Fence rows of wood with just the right amount of white on the top of the rails and posts.

The temperatures do get cold, in fact sometime just plain icy. But if you dress correctly for it, spending some time admiring the wintry surroundings is and can be very pleasant. There's usually less activity in the woods as the birds stay on the tree limbs all puffed against the cold and wind. The furry animals are usually in their burrows or nests clutched together to fend off the cold. And all you hear is the quiet murmuring of the breeze as it twists and turns among the trees. Or maybe the babbling stream flowing over the snow covered rocks. Then you make a step and you hear the crunch of the snow under your boot sole. Peace as it should be.

If you haven't gotten out this winter to just enjoy looking around, maybe a little trip to the back of the field or into the edge of the Smoky Mountain National Park will awaken those memories of your youth. It is more enjoyable this way rather than when you have to get out in it to work. For now you can pick and choose when and where you go and how long you stay. It becomes a matter of choice.

The four seasons are great and I hope you enjoy something of each. Right now we are in the ebbing of the winter season. Check it out for its beauty. You may be surprised at how beautiful it truly is.