Nature’s Lollipop

Out here on the East End of Long Island we have just witnessed the incredible force of a blizzard.  Snow was driven hard and fast as 60 mph winds whipped through the streets shaking the shutters of our homes.  It was night and cars were quickly stuck in the piles of the white “feather-like” substance that had fallen from the sky at an incredibly fast rate.   As the morning light arose on the horizon, so too did the reality that it was time to relax…no one was going anywhere!  As the grey sky gave way to blue and the sunlight emerged the laughter of children, both small and large, could be heard on in the streets.  Small gatherings began to be seen on every street corner.  Coffee was poured and given out, while others grabbed a shovel and began helping his neighbor dig out his car which was buried under two feed of newly fallen snow.  Beauty began to emerge, human hearts were turned towards one another and love began to be poured out; but not to all, only to those who allowed the raw bitterness of the night to fall away from their hearts.  That’s when I saw the tenderness of this blizzard.  I used the magnificent blanket of white that had fallen upon our earth as the background for this image.  What is often harsh can expose a moment of beauty, if you’re up for venturing out in the cold.