Snow in North Carolina!

The day after Christmas, we awoke to a winter wonderland!  Every branch, wire, fence and shrub was covered with snow fresh from God's storehouse in the heavens.  Silence draped the landscape, muffling the sounds of the few cars that were on the snow-packed roads.  After breakfast, I donned my layers and ski pants and stuffed my socked feet into my heavy boots before venturing outdoors, camera in hand.  I was welcomed by a pristine landscape that was a feast for my eyes.  Having lived most of my life in parts of the United States that experience snow during the winter months, one would think that I'd grow tired of or accustomed to the transformation of the landscape by snow, but I don't.  I'll never tire of it!  Seeing all the drab, leafless trees and brown grass covered in white makes me keenly aware of the creativity of God.  He's established laws of nature that produce these marvelous events -- the right air currents, temperatures, and moisture in the sky create snow -- and amazingly, no two snowflakes are alike.
As I walked through our yard and surrounding woods, I took photos of the trees rimmed with snow, pampas grass weighted down in white, magnolia leaves cradling bundles of snow, evergreen branches holding clusters of snow, and swings moving gently in the wind as they carried their lifeless load.  Beauty was all around me.
Our neighbors were outside building a snowman, and a friendly snowball fight erupted between them and my husband and me.  We were a bunch of older people acting like little kids again because of the snow. 
Later, I took a walk through our neighborhood, a walk I've taken many times, but the weight of my heavy boots and the slippery conditions underfoot made it a real workout.  When I returned home, Bob had been shoveling the snow and was putting it in a big pile, so I decided to make a snow angel -- with wings!  As I was sculpting the face, I pushed so hard that the head came loose and tumbled off, landing in an unrecognizable heap.  After discovering that I couldn't salvage any of it, I rebuilt the head and scuplted the face, being much more careful about how hard I pushed!  Ater I was done, I sprayed blue food coloring onto the angel's dress and yellow coloring onto its hair and wings.  It was dark when I finished.  It lasted through today, but the sun hits it squarely on the front, so it's beginning to crumble in spots, and the face is no longer solid.  My husband took photos of the angel and the outside lights covered in snow, and some of those photos are attached. 
The snow was an added gift to an already wonderful Christmas.  I thank God for His creativity and the marvelous wonder of snow.