Whispy grasses, bending boughs

Sleepy wind dies softly down

Decrescendo of the day

Clouds and color meet to play

Evening debut in the sky

Painted canvas magnified

Not a better show to see

Heaven's glorious majesty

A little winter cheer!

This photo was taken from inside an old mill.  In its day, activity was alive and productivity was a daily offering.  The wheels were turning, the motors whirring, and other than an occasional glitch, there was a healthy routine happening from within.  People came from miles to cash in on the investments from this building.  Daily bread - from corn, flour, wheat and other grains perhaps.  Its workings were fed by water and nourished by incoming crops that had also drank from rain and sunshine.

The mill now stands silent.  Its windows are broken, its machines motionless.  The elements have invaded the space that once used to house life.  The walls are dark and shadows cover what used to be vibrant and illuminated.  

There was a sadness as I stood inside quiet walls.  I couldn't hear the stories, but the evidence of days gone by somehow brought a smile to my face.  There were still faint rays of light working their way through brokeness.  Ancient pieces of wheels and tools and tins created a tranquil diary of the structure's tales.  An old calendar on the wall reminded me that time continues and the story is not completed on one page.  It dawned on me that what had been progressive here was the beginnings of continuous progress beyond these fading walls.  I realized that this age had to occur before the next were possible and that the lessons learned here would carry over and bring additional understanding and hope to the years to come.  I looked beyond the jagged edges of glass still fixed into the wooden window frames - and there was color.  

Sparkling snowflakes, prisms bright

Frosty spectrums of delight

Sunshine fragments, twinkly slivers

In this time of quaking shivers

Kaleidoscope of colors grand

Iridescence fills the land

Frigid mornings, cold winds blow

Whirling, dancing flakes of snow

One by one they slowly flutter

Then they cling to one another

In my memory, days gone by

Velvet crystals fill the sky

Cover valleys, hills and dales

Softly cloaking forest trails

Feathery whiteness settling down

Silence descending all around

A world transformed born anew

Purified now through and through

Wonderland of icy gleam

I revel in my winter dream

Even birds seem to declare

"When the weather's gray,

Take a look around and see

What might lift the day."

Little tiny feathered friends 

Just don't seem to mind

Snowflakes on their plumy back

Or that the cold's unkind

Their dances go on merrily

In spite of rain or snow

Singing as they flit about

Happy where they go

Maybe I could learn a bit

From these fine creatures small

To worry less and rejoice more

Or not to fear at all

And notice more what God has done

That keeps me warm inside

To contemplate His blessings now

And in His love abide

Whispy, soft pines, topped with cottony crystals!  My kind of scene.  The world enshrouded with a clean, white blanket of fresh snow!!  Now there's an "O Tannenbaum"!

Oooops......This might have happened on a day like today.  It certainly CAN happen on a day like today!  But we won't say who or how....or why it might have happened - on a day like today!  Just saying.....it's slick out there folks!  The ole' mountain fights back when we try to leave home on a day LIKE TODAY....when God's grandeur should simply be enjoyed!

FYI:  No bodily injuries here (except for a slight bumper bender).  Tow truck made it up and pulled it down the hill where it will stay for awhile!  Needless to say we're all working from home....on a DAY LIKE TODAY!!  :)