FACES IN THE SNOW

Today Dave and i went cross country skiing along the National Lakeshore of Lake Superior in Michigan. It was a beautiful day going from light snow to full sunshine every half hour or so- couldn't make up its mind weather wise. As I skied through the dense woods on the trail, I was in awe of the beauty of God. The snow had stuck to the trees due to dense snowfalls of the last few weeks.This is an area that gets 200 inches of snow from Nov 1- April 1, a winter wonderland of constant white and the snow is always the consistency of powdered sugar (that is to say it is wispy, light and powdery). As a i skied i noticed the snow shapes all around me. The snow had deposited itself onto trees and stumps as if a gallery of animal shapes and even faces. One tree stump was about 20 feet tall with a a perfect circle of snow on the very top of it as if a street light was on the trail and others as if snowballs on a branch. Another looked like a large lizard climbing up the tree , still another like a face serenely looking at the forest in which it sat, and still another a little elf peeking around the tree at me as if watching this forest intruder. It reminded me of those whimsical times when as a little girl i would lay down in the grass on a warm summer day to see what shapes i could see up in the clouds in the sky-- sometimes a dragon ,fairy castle, a monkey or even the man in the moon. The forest was alive with sculpture made only by God himself- a kind of artistry that only HE could create and imagine and all there for me to see as i skied by. What a glorious visual display of wintry paintings in an untouched countryside that only those who love the winter days could enjoy.Its times like these that i am reminded of how all things are connected and i am only one part of the miracle of God's creations. It was oh so peaceful ... what a wintry wonderland !!