Our first winter outside of the Sunshine State

  After spending 7 years in Miami I've forgotten what real winter is like.  I've been spoiled by palm trees, sandy beaches and 80 degree weather from November to April while the rest of the US is buried beneath snow and ice.  Don't get me wrong, winter was my favorite season before I moved to the sunshine state and I have missed the cold, snow and most of all winter activities.  I lived all year for my trip to Montana, counting down the days until it was cold smoke and tram laps for 7 glorious days.

  Then Quinn and I moved north to Louisville - well, I guess north is all relative to where we were.  I was so excited to finally be moving where there was going to be seasons.  Oh how I had missed the change that happens when summer ends and fall begins.  The crispness in the air, the fall colors emerging as the leaves change and the feel of winter coming.  But here in Louisville the coming of winter brings the dread of school and office closures, snow that cripples the city because they are ill-prepared for the weather and the most destructive of all - ice and freezing rain.

  Yesterday Louisville experienced one of these dreaded ice storms.  Now, as I stated earlier, I come from the Midwest where winter weather is part of life for many months out of the year, so a little snow and ice does not frighten me.  So when I went to work in the morning, I did not anticipate the day ending with an announcement from the mayor advising the city to close all non-essential businesses early.  Since my office was considered non-essential, it was a 2pm early release from the office to work the remainder of the day from home.

  The storm began with blowing snow which turned into freezing rain, which I will admit, can be extremely dangerous when one does not know how to drive on roads coated with ice and sleet.  Many individuals in the city lost power, thank God that we were not one of them seeing as our house does not have the best insulation - we may have froze to death.  But what we woke up to was absolutely beautiful.  The trees were covered in a layer of ice that made it seem as if the world had stopped turning for a moment.  Everything seemed to be, for a lack of a better term, frozen in time.

  My only regret of this storm was that I did not plan ahead and get some quality photos of the beauty that was evident in the aftermath of this storm - I will not make that mistake again.