buried ...

Hard to believe that only 2 weeks ago, we were joyfully digging out from the first big snowstorm of 2011 and enjoying the blessings and beauty of fresh New England snow. This was the sunrise exactly two weeks ago, the morning after that first snowstorm ...

Beautiful! These are what the streets in my neighborhood looked like as we drove out to the sledding hill later that day - still fresh - everything was so magical! My happiness meter was running high ...

Two days later, over the weekend, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen in my life - right from our front window - this photo doesn't even begin to do justice to what it truly looked like - the colors were truly breathtaking ...

Heavenly, right? Doesn't the scenery look like something out of a postcard? Truthfully, it really was something out of a postcard - there's nothing like fresh-fallen snow. And it was made even more magical by being the first snow.

But can you tell where this is going? Yup - that blissful first snow was followed by a bitter reality check. Because the fact is, all that snow can't stay pristine forever ... *sigh* ... and the snow that gets plowed from the streets to the sides of the road gets dirty pretty quick ...

Add in a rainy day like this one from last week and you end up with a pretty yucky commute at school dismissal - this was our carpool line on Tuesday of last week ...

I was looking out my car window at the slush-covered streets ...

... wishing with all my heart that the rain would just melt everything away. No such luck. The temps dipped back below freezing and the dirty waterlogged snow banks on the sides of the roads turned to ice - it's like having cinderblock walls on each side of the road - same color and texture too. My attitude was going downhill fast at that point! And by the end of last week it was snowing again ... like 8 more inches of snow - and our third snow day from school in just a 2-week stretch ...

Notice the walls of dirty snow on the sides of the roads? No hedges or fences underneath - that's just 4'+ tall walls of snow and ice. A far cry from the magic of fresh fallen snow! My happiness meter was sinking fast that day. Then, just to make sure I got kicked when I was already down, I experienced something that no native Floridian should ever have to bear ...

Only seconds earlier, that temp reading said negative one - but by the time I grabbed my phone, it was up to a balmy zero degrees ... this is not celsius, people, we're talkin' zero - like acrtic, sting your face, hard to breathe zero! I mean please, are you kidding me?? My attitude was really down in the dumps by this point - a mere 12 days after that first blissful snowstorm in which I had baked enough comfort foods to feed an army, took 103 gorgeous photos of fresh fallen snow, and remarked on the blessings of nature's beauty. Ha! How quickly it all unraveled for me ... happiness meter was definitely on empty.

Then wanna know what happened overnight last night? I'm in that pink 9-12" band ...

Twelve more inches of snow fell overnight here in town ... and we're home for our 4th snow day from school in just a 3-week stretch. To give you some perspective on where we stand with our grand total ... this is the way out of my house, out the side door and down 4 steps ...

That 42-inch (yes, I measured it - I had to know!) mound of snow in the center would normally be a grassy patch of yard. The street is just beyond the fence (yes, there's a 4-foot tall fence in this picture - don't you see it?). And those things that looks like sticks in front of the fence are the limbs of a small tree whose trunk is completely buried. The good news? It's beautiful again out my window ...

... pure and white, silent and magical ... my happiness meter is replenished. And so goes the vicious cycle of wintertime in New England ...