The 4th Season

Winter. A picture photo montage of my three days of winter this year, courtesy of the Ohio Valley. Enjoy.

This is the view my parents' backyard. Country living at its finest. It took me growing up to realize how lucky I was to live here. Fresh air, open spaces, and beautiful scenery.

A giant silver maple. I wonder how many winters it has seen? They winter air was cold and stagnant, the sound of silence deafening. It's amazing how your senses are heightened by the snow. Sound carries, ice is sharp and clear, skies more blue.

One of two chicken coops. It still smelled musty and barn-like, but all the chickens had long since left. My wife asked me if this was ever a functioning out-house. The Osage Orange trees in the background wash over the hedge like a wave; their roots being pulled from the ground by the weight of the tree. The wood of these trees is extremely hard and a beautiful orange color. In the fall they drop hedge apples, a strange, green, brain-like fruit that exudes a sticky milky substance and give horses gas!

A foreboding and ominous winter sky over a forest of trees provides a reminder of how small and vulnerable we are. It is a necessary dormancy that will soon release its grip. Though only a short time, I use this as a time to reflect.
Soon enough I am without it.