They call me the Snow Grinch, but it wasn't always this way!!! I promise! Like all children, I used to LOVE snow days!

• Entire days of building snow forts
• Snowball fights
• Sledding for HOURS
• Making REAL snow cones!
• Watching the world become completely SUGAR COATED
• ... and best of all, NO. SCHOOL.

I remember sitting in front of the tv, partially dressed for school. Only partially! Because as SOON your school name scrolled across the bottom of the Local morning news show , those clothes were getting ripped off and you were diving back into bed for an extra hour of snuggly warmth.

But you didn't want to sleep TOO long. After all, snow was calling! And snow, has an expiration date! So when it arrived - you needed to be ready!

As you age, however, snow becomes less of a companion and more of a nuisance. Children don't fear falling hard on the ice - they're bendy and fleshy. Bumps and bruises tend to be proof of all the fun they had, and get displayed with pride to the neighborhood. Adults? Not so much. lol

I remember when the pain from a thawing jaw exceeded the joy from tromping in the snow. I remember when I had to walk to school, and got stuck in the middle of a road while a sliding car headed straight for me. I remember when I became the Snow Grinch! LOL

But then...

But there is no mistaking the beauty of freshy fallen snow. Every blemish is coated in thick tufts of white. The "earthsong" even changes to a very muted, peaceful, muffled hush. It's divine. But the Divine is also very powerful and unashamedly so.

The other day, I was in awe over the beauty of @foxkoit's winter wonderland. It's so nice to be able to VIEW it. But alas, I knew that ours was coming too, and commented that I'd have my own pictures soon. The weatherman is always threatening the "biggest storms of the year" which usually turn into rain, for most of it. But this time? He did not lie. He actually UNDERESTIMATED the force of this storm. In 18 hours we had about a foot of snow. In 36 hours, it had not relented, giving us about 24 inches. It is still pitch black outside, so I don't know if I'm waking up to more yet - but last I checked it was probably around 28 inches or so.

We have no power, we have no satellite (that precious little disc is currently hanging off the side of our roof from avalanches of snow that continued to pummel it, along with our gutters that were ripped off!) we have no WiFi. The power company continues to call to tell us that they're "aware" of our situation. Let me tell you, that awareness is oh-so-comforting. LOLOL I would much rather a SOLUTION with a timeline, but hey - they're "aware". hahaha

Our 4wd just happened to be in the shop RIGHT at the time we needed it most, so my husband and kids are walking to work. yes. in 28 inches of snow. LOL I'm 62 inches. 28 inches is almost half my height!!!! LOLOL Thankfully, THEY are all tall, and it's normally only an 8 minute walk. Now, it takes 20 minutes.

Deliveries have stopped coming because - roads. And there are 4 trees blocking the way, while we await the county to come take care of it. I'm sure they're "aware" also! LOL

The entire camp and community is completely without power or internet, (just like us) and we have 400 children up here for their winter weekend camp that have probably PRAYED FOR YEARS that their camp weekend would fall on a massive snowstorm for them to enjoy!

Because you see... while we all continue to age, there are still hundreds of children that find magic in the mountain snow! Their days are filled with all the things we enjoyed from younger years. And who knows? Maybe it was the power of 400 collective prayers that brought this blizzard of blessings - just for them!

It's a sweet thought, and as I sit here writing OFFLINE - hahaa and hoping that my hotspot will allow me a smooth time to post! (it did not. it took me 7 hours of frustration to finally upload this... 😓) I have to be thankful that we have shelter, a fireplace, free wood, jobs, food, running water, a generator, and all the conveniences that make these kind of inconveniences a little less terrible.

And now if we can all collectively pray for a miracle so that I can STILL get online for the #womentofollow event on Tuesday? hehehe That would make me (and @epodcaster!! lol) very, very happy!

I hope you enjoyed all my images dotted throughout the post! They were meant to show you beauty in the aggravation!!! hahahahahahaha

When they are calling for snow as low as 2000 feet elevation - the mountain folk are just in trouble! lol Our sister camp (Hume Lake) is at about 6500 feet elevation, and they just had to shut down camp - it's too much snow to do anything. And we are getting dangerously close to that, I think. We are at 4500 feet elevation, and I simply cannoth fathom another 2 feet ON TOP of what we currently have!!! You would only be able to see the top of my head if I went out into it!! LOLOL Well, let's see what actually happens. Maybe the weather man is wrong???

Taking these final pictures above... seeing the overwhelming weight of the heavy snow on all the branches of that sweet little bent tree in the foreground - I feel anxious! lol I want to go help the tree out!! I want to just shake it off and let it SPRING back to its upright position!! hehe But... I see something else in this picture too. Blue and pink skies that are whispering the promise of the sun! Yesterday the sky was a complete sheet of white. The sun was so far behind the shield of snow - it looked like the moon! Just a faint white glow peering through the veil! But today? Maybe? She comes and melts some of the snow off the trees, and well.... that's a start!

This post was entered into the beautiful @sublimesunday community started by my old friend @c0ff33a. Wait - I don't mean HE is old. I mean he is a friend FROM old. Well, maybe we both ARE old. Anyway - this community is for anything sublime you'd like to share! Funny, dear, meaningful, zany - come enter it here and meet others like you!!!