Tags
2022, Black & White Photography, Boise, good fortune, ice, Snow, winter
My blessings seem obscene in light of the misery visited upon the families of Superior and Louisville, Colorado. On the first day of the new year, as those poor folks trod through the embers of their homes, I went for a morning walk along the river.
It seemed like overnight, our parched valley turned into a winter wonderland. Our ski area went from base-scraping rock fields to knee-deep powder. The thermometer took a deep dive.
Frozen ice crystals are the perfect fabric for a New Year’s ball.
Once again, I count my blessings. I begin a new year, the final one of this decade for me, with my home, my health, and oodles of beauty wherever I look. My heart breaks for those who lost everything two short days before a winter storm could have saved them from the hell of a fire storm. I hope non of you, my readers, were impacted by the last fire of an already dreadful year. I wish everyone peace, good health, and happiness moving forward.
Rangewriter 
I often think we’re allowed an opportunity to see other’s misfortune in order to appreciate our lot. It must be awfully difficult to start a new year when you’ve experienced such trauma as the folks in Colorado.
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I hate to think that others suffer that I may realize how lucky I am. But perhaps that is true. We don’t appreciate the light, if we’ve never been trapped in the dark. Yes, the trauma that many people are starting the new year in.
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That opportunity also provides us with something else: An opportunity to provide service.
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Indeed. Great point.
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I love those ice crystals on the fence! And the ice on the limbs! Just a beautiful world. but my heart does go out to those in trouble with the wickedness of nature, the people in Colorado and my neighbours who got flooded.
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Yes, there are so many people who’s years have not started well at all. I’m sorry for them all.
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The photographs are stunning! I do love the depth one can find in black-and-white. I too am blessed and I grieve for those who have to endure such hardship while I am unscathed.
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Lovely photos so welcome in a world full of littered face masks, disasters and mayhem.
Thank you, Linda
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So true, Gerard. No faces here.
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I agree with Gerard. Thanks, Keith
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Fabulous photos! I love looking at pictures of snow from the warmth of SoCal (yes, I’m a wimp). Happy New Year!
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It’s a good thing that not everyone loves living in snow country–or hot country, for that matter. 🤗
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This is a really nice collection of grayscale images of stunning ‘ice/snow scapes’ (?)
You’re right about those who lost everything with basically no warning – and the snow arrived too late. The climate seems to be in a bipolar mood.
For the new year – and so much cold weather ‘up there’ right now, this collection of images is a perfect choice.
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Thanks, Lisa. Bipolar climate. Yes, I think that’s an apt description.
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Love your winter wonderland photos! And, like you my wish for the new year is peace, happiness and good health!
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Thank you, sis! 💓
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Yes, we have much to be grateful for – I always say this, but I am so grateful to live in this country and grateful for my health among many other things.
I love the 4th photo – it is has great composition and makes you look at it to see what it is – it is sort of mystical. Thanks for sharing your images of winter beauty!
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Thanks for the great feedback. Hope you are happily settling in.
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Awesome images of your walk … the contrast makes a strong statement. Aren’t the disasters sad though? It seems fires here are an ever-increasing threat. In Louisville it was very surprising to me because it wasn’t forested.
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Thanks for your kind words, Denise. Yes, fire can happen anywhere. About 20 years ago a lightning sparked fire roared up a rocky cliff on the prairie outskirts of town and devoured about 6 homes, in one of which one of my favorite professors burned to death in an attempt to get her beloved cats out of the house. That was a real eye-opener. Her house, in particular, was like a match waiting for a strike. Inside was filled with papers and books stacked on every possible surface. Outside overgrown junipers and pine trees screened the house entirely from view. It was a painful lesson in firewise practices. I live in a tall skinny house in a row of the same, all about 10′ apart. I recently considered how easy it would be for some errant spark to ignite my neighbors’ leaf-clogged gutters, thereby starting a fire which would inevitably race toward my home. It’s not a pleasing thought. And my neighbors are not “into” maintenance like cleaning gutters. 😨
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Yes … I think the fire spread from home to home as they were fairly close to one another. We are surrounded by pinyon pines on 2 acres but it has been thinned out for mitigation. Still there are some closer to the house that I would like to get rid of. We have a metal roof and fire resistant hardie board siding so that is a help I suppose.
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Kudos to the metal roof. Those seem so logical in so many ways…like snow AND fire resistance. I hope you will not have to face the horror of wildfire. At all. Even nearby.
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Your photography skills radiate deep optimism, a hope for tomorrow.
I cherished going through your blog, and will be hanging around for more 😀
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Thank you Arnav and welcome to my blog.
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