Sunset Bouquet of Winter

To look at the photograph, the hues lead the eye to distinguish from the paleness of pink and hot oranges, vanishing shades of lavender and the obvious crispness in the white snow. 

The picture speaks of winter; calm and serene but also to remind us of the absolute solitude in a cold January afternoon in snow country. 

All around Steamboat Springs and rural Routt County, cold afternoons and even more frigid nights seep into our bodies.  Most people will thaw out in late March when temperatures will begin to rise; the ground will start to give way by mid to late April, and the snow should be gone by mid June.

For almost 7 months out of the year, we see the winter storms come and go; leaving their fluffy white snow behind.  We shovel it,  find places to put it, ski on it, play in it, curse at it and even marvel at it. But, in the long run, with sunsets such as the white farmhouse, out buildings and fields above, somehow we are able to appreciate it just a little more every day.

"...Old age is not so serious, and I
By the window sad and watchful as a cat,
Build to this poem of old age and of snow,
And weep: you are my snow man and I know
I near you, you near him, all of us must die..." Old Man in the Crystal Snow, Delmore Schwartz

The Rosemary & Sage of Old West Life

Rustic. Sagacious is the antiqued iron nail.  To gaze upon this grainy and well worn piece of wood, I wondered the purpose of this nail.  Perhaps it was only to adorn the wooden slab with a hint of true grit.  Such is the life of well-worn western days, old outbuildings, barns, and pioneer ghosts, who experienced the wild ride of adventure, 100 years ago.