Out My Front Door

Today is a storm day. Again. Since the week between Christmas and New Year's, it seems as though we've had a snow storm at least once a week. One day a week ago, we also had a day of freezing rain, which also closed things down.

Schools are closed. Several business and work places are closed. Roads are bad.

I've seen the snow plow go down our street (and back up) once. The plow that also comes to do our driveway (and pretty well everyone else's on the street too) has been around once, just after the street plow came around. Since then, the wind has picked up and there is a great deal of blowing snow and poor visability.

This photo (above) is looking out my front door. It's part of the street (we are on a bend) looking up to another street. You can see the stop sign and the house on the other side of that street. What you can't see is the street. You can see the high snow banks from the previous storms where the plows have pushed the snow off the roads. The tree at the bottom is just a new one planted this fall, but the snow is up high on the trunk. To be fair, it's also at the road so a lot of the snow is from the snowbank.

The wind wasn't as strong at that point (it's picked up since I took the picture), but you can get the feeling from the photo that it is storming.

The photo to the right was taken at the same time, and looks over to the park beside the house. Still lots of snow and blowing snow. The graininess of the photo is actually snow.

I am thankful for snow days like this. I don't particularly care for the snow (or winter and cold in general) - which might seem odd since I live in Canada...

But, I am thankful that I have shelter from the storm. I am thankful to be in a house with heat to keep me warm from the storm.

I am thankful for the beauty in nature - the snow, when it is on the evergreen trees, looks so pretty.

I am thankful that I live in a part of the world that actually has four different seasons.

I am thankful that the country I live in is free, and I have freedom. I am thankful this freedom allows me to worship and praise the Lord in public, in my home, in the homes of others, in my church - and I don't have to worry and fear of being imprisoned or tortured or killed for my faith.

So, today is a day that I am going to try and focus on being thankful for what I have. What are you thankful for today?