Early Winter

View of Skaneateles Lake looking south from boat launch.

Early Winterscape in Skaneateles

Here in the Finger Lakes we were 'blessed' with an early snow storm. A few years back I took these pictures when in November, when we got a dusting.  When it snows here, the skies are  gloomy, filled with moisture. I was having a hard time getting just the right shots.  For three days in a row during the Thanksgiving break I woke each morning at the required time for this season of the year  (7 am) and it was always overcast.

One morning I got lucky enough to capture the sun rising in the gloom, and paid for it with a nasty fall on the ice as I took a picture from the town of Skaneateles' boat launch.

Then it happened.  The perfect-picture-taking-dawn.  I arose at 7 am and the sun was rising with just wisps of clouds in the sky, and magically, it had also snowed overnight.  I grabbed my coffee, my camera and my boots and waded through the newly fallen snow in the farms fields at the end of my road.  And I was rewarded with crystal images.

Sun rising on farm field of corn stalks.

So, it was worth it - waiting - for the right moment in time to take the pictures that would capture the beauty of this landscape that I live in; that shows itself when it wants, not when you need it to.  A lesson well worth remembering when the days get shorter and the darkness sets in. A lesson to keep in mind in general.