Black-Capped Chickadees, Melting Icicles and Snow Covered Sunsets

1. Four black-capped chickadees frolic and flit about in our snow-covered yard, darting in and out of the bare branches of Helene, my Rose of Sharon. I decide they are celebrating the morning sunshine.

2. Shining brightly, the sun has warmed us to above freezing and yesterday's monstrous icicles are drip-dripping around the outside edge of the house and sound like raindrops falling.

3. Just as the afternoon light is getting low in the sky, my daughter and I take a drive through our local park, a little bit of nature preserved in this very suburban area. Mini-vans filled with children in brightly colored snow pants carrying brightly colored plastic sleds park and unload. The steep hill awaits.

The creek is covered in a layer of snow, frozen by the cold temperatures we have recently had. Britt comments that the snow covered rocks protruding from the creek bed look like bubbles, bubbling up out of the smooth surface of the snow. We pause on the bridge that travels over the creek, the sun is getting low and the light it gives to us in this moment, right before it sets, is spectacular. Everything glows. Much of the snow on the playground is unblemished. I see tiny paw prints in the snow, leading to tree trunks before they disappear. The roadway is still snow-covered, though worn down and it squeaks and crunches below the car tires. We circle the park monument in the car, me whooping up something about doing a donut in the snow and then we head home. It is a beautiful moment.

We traveled this same path together in the fall, when the leaves were gold and the air hung heavy with the sweet smell of autumn. I treasure these moments we share.