Counterpoint

Snow-dusted holly leaves

Bluebird house in snowI think it snowed early this morning just to offer a counterpoint to the pics from yesterday morn. This is the first of the season here, and no, I don’t really count this as snow; not from having grown up in central New York, and not in comparison to many other parts of the country right now. We have often had much heavier snowfalls than this by this time of year, so it just reflects how lucky we’ve been here. I’m not gloating, even though it’s true that I moved south largely to escape winter weather. While I’m not fond of cold, I can hack it reasonably well. It was the expectation that inclement weather was supposed to have no effect on school or work that was most disagreeable, and after several years, multiple minor vehicle damages and one major one, and having to pull a faulty pump from our well in arctic conditions, I figured it was time to get out.

Below, one of the last remnants of the spiderling colony on the butterfly bush, which has finally given up its green leaves. I can no longer find any of the green lynx spiders that hatched therein, which doesn’t mean they’re not there. I can still find a few on the rosemary bush though, and at least two were unfazed by the snow this morning (they don’t have to drive in it.) But here, a few resilient strands of web anchor what appears to be snowflakes transitioning to water; the shapes in the background that ‘cradle’ the drop were wholly unseen and unplanned, unless you want to give my subconscious credit. I could be wrong about the material, though – it might just be a holiday decoration that the spiders have been too lazy to take down. I will leave you to contemplate what a spider holiday would be like.

Semi-melted snow on web