White Christmas

Mother Nature helped make the wishes of many children come true this morning by coating Pittsburgh with a blanket of snow and delivering a White Christmas.
The temperature was a few degrees below freezing and we had about an inch (3 cm) on the ground this morning, as I grabbed the shovel to clean the driveway.

I paused during the shoveling and gazed in wonder at a nature-made Christmas tree, outside my house.

The silence was absolute, every sound muffled by the snow -- even the birds and other critters were being quiet.  The lyrics to 'Silent Night' came to mind:

Silent Night

Silent night holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia;
Christ the Savior, is born
Christ the Savior, is born.

Silent night holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

 

The work completed, I snapped a couple more pictures before heading inside to warm-up.

I'd like to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

May all your wishes come true.

Ready for the Holidays?

You know this thing with the cold is getting very tiresome ... !
And winter doesn't officially begin until December 21 !
We have been under this constant barrage of frigid arctic air for many days now.
It is very cold and windy = a bad combination.
The temperature this morning was 15F (-9C), however when the wind was factored-in (the so-called wind-chill temperature), it felt like 4F (-15C).
Yesterday's high temperature was 16F (-9C), today we will get as warm as 22F (-5C), however we are not expected to get warmer than the freezing mark for the next few days.

With all this in mind, we might have a "white Christmas" after all -- or at least a very cold one.
The good news for me was that the temperature warmed-up to a few degrees above freezing last weekend and I was able to install the various lighted decorations outside my house (they help to put you in a Christmas mood, don't you know?).

Street view at night in the falling snow - reindeer in "liftoff" mode

Driveway/Walkway view - you can also see some neighbors' lighted decorations in the background

Now that the lights are up, all that is required is to actually get into the spirit!
I wish you all a blessed Christmas.