Adjusting to Winter

One of the blessings of being in the states during winter is that I have this wonderful little box on the wall in the hallway that allows me to stay warm. I have had to control my hand a little more this month because I now have an awareness of how much it costs me to push up that little lever, but I am grateful that I do not have to wear three pairs of socks and my ski jacket as I did in my apartment in Brazil! Would I rather be soaking up some sunshine and wearing summer clothes in Florianopolis right now? you bet! But God has provided me with great friends here in Little Rock, given me opportunities to play some golf and each day reminds me of His blessings and provisions.

So where does the "joyful" come in as my body tries to readjust to below freezing temperatures outside? From the beauty of the snow and ice and the opportunity to take some neat photos. A trip to Chicago produced some great "snow" photos and the drive home after an ice storm also was beautiful. I wanted to stop in the middle of the expressway to snap some photos...but that would be a Brazilian thing to do and I am not in Brazil any more....... To the right you can see Alice using the snow blower to clean the driveway...and that is my little Ford Focus wondering why we left warm Little Rock for this!




On my old blog site I have a photo of myself in my apartment in Brazil wearing this same ski jacket and a pair of gloves to work on the computer in my very cold office...here in Chicago the jacket was needed again...but not inside the house....
The photos of the ice I saw on the drive home are not terrific, but do give an idea of what I saw for over an hour as I headed south out of the Chicago area early in the morning.
















Unfortunately the beautiful snow and ice has also prevented me from traveling to Michigan to spend some time with my brothers who are watching the snow pile up 6-8 feet high on the sides of their driveways. This is wonderful for cross-country skiing and hiking in snow shoes...but does not make for safe driving on the highway that goes from Chicago, down around the bottom of Lake Michigan and up to the Pentwater/Ludington area where my brothers live.

Here is a very cool winter photo taken by my sister-in-law, Joan of some trees outside their house in Scottville. For more of the awesome nature photos she puts on her blog each day, go to: http://myqualityday.blogspot.com/

As for me..... I am cautiously optimistic that there will be less white stuff on the ground when I try once again to drive north in March! This weekend I will head to Texas to spend some time with my sister and enjoy the predicted warm weather there.