Not just another snowy day

We have had quite a bit of snow lately and I have found myself wishing for warm sunshine and green green grass.  I have a very bad tendency to not live in the moment especially when it comes to seasons of the year.  In the heat of summer I crave the cool of fall, in the cool of fall I am ready for the cold of winter and the hope of snow, and in the seemingly never ending dreary days of winter I am ready for the first signs of spring.  Well all of this changed somewhat for me last week when I was introduced to William "Snowflake" Bentley....

"Snowflake" Bentley was the subject of an article I just happened upon while I was doing a little online reading.  "Snowflake" photographed and cataloged over 5,000 snowflakes during his lifetime and provided proof that no two snow flakes are alike.  I have heard this saying many times in my life..."no two snowflakes are alike"...but I never really paused to think much about it until I came across this article.  What first made me stop and look twice was this picture...

Aren't they wonderful!?  I could probably spend a good portion of the day looking at all of his images but then I am sort of a nerd like that.  With the naked eye we see snowflakes falling from the sky as little fuzzy white balls but under a microscope they are absolutely perfect and beautiful.  Each and every teeny tiny itty bitty one.  Think of the blizzard that just occured in Washington, D.C.  How many snowflakes fell from the sky?  There is no telling.  Each one of those snowflakes was different, perfect, and amazingly beautiful.  Wow!  One of God's miracles that I have never even opened my eyes or mind to before now.  We are given so many gifts and how often we overlook them.  I can tell you this though after seeing these images of snowflakes and reading about good ole "Snowflake" Bentley's tireless work I am a little more thankful for the beauty of winter.  Spring will come soon enough but until then I am going to try to appreciate the blessings of the season that I have right now.

I will leave you all with some pictures of Hannah and Lily enjoying the snow...