I have fallen in love with winter in the forest. To awaken to the purest of white, untouched glistening snow, is as if awakening from one dream into another. The snowy wonder engenders a playfulness and an invitation to forge new paths aimlessly throughout the forest in a dream of endless wonder.

The snow is dry and powdery and with every step, the sparkling particles dance and swirl upon the currents of nipping wind gusts. As I meander over gentle forested hills around ponderosas adorned with sparkling frosted pine needles, my newly forged path eventually encounters the delicate tracks of a coyote. I follow it curiously, carefully so as to not disturb the luring trail.

For trackers, the snowy winter kindles an adventurous curiosity, for most hard-to-see tracks pop into the foreground upon the alabastrine substrate. I find tracks of rabbit too, which I follow with my eyes. But not long after following them, another point of interest captures my attention. The gentle thaw of frost has given the moss and lichen a particular vividness. The textures, colors and diversity portray the delicate artistry of Nature. Something we humans could never replicate.

Tracing the artful details painted on the trunks of oak, eventually my eyes land upon equally whimsical clusters of wood-ear mushrooms. A rush of excitement ensues as I can hardly believe our fortune of endless natural gifts. After the gentle thaw, the barely noticeable wood-ear bloom into their full delicacy. We’ve been harvesting the wood-ears well into late Fall. With the arrival of snow, we didn’t expect to see them again until mid-Summer. Yet, here they are blooming with abundance yet again, mid-Winter!

I am amazed by the abundance of this forested earth even through winter. It is truly an abundance of wonder and delicacy.

What blessed beauty.