the snow is finally beginning to melt, so i thought i would share some winter photos. these were taken earlier this winter, on a snowshoe hike around calumet lake with my dad.

because i am in a matchmaking mood, i am sharing them in the form of an ode to john burroughs.

“[W]hat a severe yet master artist old Winter is… No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel.”

~ John Burroughs, The Snow-Walkers

“What a wild winter sound, — wild and weird, up among the ghostly hills… I get up in the middle of the night to hear it. It is refreshing to the ear, and one delights to know that such wild creatures are among us. At this season Nature makes the most of every throb of life that can withstand her severity.”

~ John Burroughs, The Snow-Walkers

“It is a spur that one feels at this season more than at any other. How nimbly you step forth! The woods roar, the waters shine, and the hills look invitingly near. You do not miss the flowers and the songsters, or wish the trees or fields any different, or heavens any nearer. Every object pleases… the straight light-gray trunks of the trees… how curious they look, and as if surprised in undress.”

~ John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine

“If the October days were a cordial like the sub-acids of fruit, these are a tonic like the wine of iron. Drink deep or be careful how you taste this December vintage. The first sip may chill, but a full draught warms and invigorates.”

~ John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine