The Beauty of Winter

Today I am giving some serious thought to the beauty of winter.  Yes, you read that right - 'the beauty of winter'.  I realize it's a risky topic to be discussing in the middle of a very snowy January when everyone is exhausted from shovelling it and weary of driving through it, but today, I want to put aside my Canadian hum-drum attitude toward snow and look at it as though I've never experienced it before.  So please, no snorts of derision or eye-rolling - I haven't flown over the cuckoo's nest.  It's just that snow is rather incredible when you think about it.  That blanket of white we see out our windows is actually a gazillion tiny water crystals that will sparkle and glitter when the sunlight (or moonlight) shines upon them.  And when snowflakes fall gently from the heavens, soft and silent in the delicate light of winter?  Why, it's simply beautiful. 

And occasionally, on the very rare winter morning, we awake to discover a hoar frost has transformed our world into one of breath-taking beauty.  Donna from Camrose, Alberta Canada captured such a world in the photo below.  Enlarge it to its fullest and take your time enjoying it.