Winter Magic in Kananaskis Country

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?”

~ J. B. Priestley

December Snow

Hooray! Finally! Finally, the snow has come! It’s been a long wait this year. I love white Decembers, especially with the glow of all the holiday lights. My partner and I have been waiting for the snow to arrive, just so we could head out to the mountains and tromp around in it. There’s nothing we love more than a snowy day in the mountains of Kananaskis Country, Alberta.

Little Danbo: A Sled Named Rosebud

Knock, Knock, Knock…

I awoke today to a thick, soupy morning fog. We don’t often get fog here in Calgary and there is something wonderfully mysterious and beautiful about it. I happily finished my morning ablutions and comfortably settled into my home office with a mug of hot tea to begin my day. Deeply engrossed in my work, it took a while for my brain to register that there was a knock at the door.

The Danbo Brothers Go Caroling

The Danbo Brothers caroling in the neighbourhood.

“Carols of gladness ring from every tree.”
~ Frances Anne Kemble

Here We Come A-Wassailing…

Who knew the Danbo Brothers could sing? Tonight, they joined forces with a couple of choir mice who come around here every year to carol and they spent a glorious evening singing their little hearts out around the neighborhood. All those small voices blended together perfectly and, I have to say, they sounded very sweet, even if a bit squeaky.

Rekindling the Magic of Winter

 

Scene from a magical winter walk in our neighbourhood.

 

“Warm fire—books–comfort—safety from storm—
our cats on the rug. Moonlight,” said Barney,
“would you be any happier now if you had a million dollars?”

~ Barney Snaith, talking about winter,
from L. M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle

Taking a Cold, Hard Look at Winter

My partner and I genuinely love winter. But we usually keep that sentiment to ourselves because it seems that most others around us do not share our enthusiasm for winter. Truth be told, this appreciation for winter is a relatively new thing. Five years ago, I discovered that I had become, like most others around me, a chronic grumbler about winter and, in all honesty, about the weather in general. It seemed that the more years that passed, the narrower became the range of weather I didn’t complain about.