A week ago, we had two lovely snowfalls back to back. It shut the schools down for, well, the entire week. It also meant closure of Sharp Spring's Natural Area, an exquisite many acres of nearly virgin land. I parked outside the gates, and with my Iphone and dog, went exploring and picture-taking.
My plan was to walk a half hour or so, but, entranced by the exquisite beauty of it all, found myself returning to the car nearly two hours later. Smokey didn't seem to mind and sprang about in the snow more lively than I'd seen the 10-year-old dalmatian in ages. I think she felt as uplifted as I did in "owning" the place, unspoiled by human footsteps, tire tracks and more.
I painted the above from one of the photos I'd taken, waivering about whether to add the foreground fence that bracketed the photo on the lower right side. In the end, I thought the stark expanse more like the breathtaking experience I felt when there.
The title - Winter's Bone and Sinew - comes from a John Burroughs quote: Winter has given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.
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