SNOW

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

(linking up at Andrew's place while Kate is on leave)

Word prompt--SNOW

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Last night I was rudely awakened at 4:30 AM by a piercing alarm on my cell phone announcing a severe weather alert. A couple of minutes later it sounded again. And then again. 

Finally I got up, turned on the light, and put on my glasses so I could read the details and figure out how to stop getting the continuous alerts. . 

The alert was a warning to drivers that a snow squall was about to hit my area in the next hour or so. At the bottom there was a button you could click on to confirm you had seen the alert. Once you did that they would stop.

I did not know what a snow squall was so I Googled it. 

Apparently, it's a sudden intense burst of heavy snow and strong winds that does not last long, but like a blizzard, drastically cuts visibility by creating a whiteout and, in just minutes, also makes the roads extremely icy and slippery.   

The squall could not have lasted more than a few minutes, because when I got up the sun was already shining, and the only evidence that it really had happened was that the parking lot and cars were covered in snow. 

Wish I had thought to take a picture so I could have added it to this post on snow. (The one I've used is from my archives.)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

LIGHTS ON THE LAKE

Christmas week ended with a family outing (20 of us) to the Lights on the Lake walk- through event at Shannondale Lake in Harpers Ferry, WV.  It was my first time, and I took so many pictures it was hard to pick out just a few to post. They were all my favorites. 

This next section of the walk-through consisted of a series of community decorated trees sponsored by local businesses and organizations to help raise funds for local nonprofits. I didn't count how many there were, but I think there must have been at least 20.

 

My four great-grands had watched the movie Elf the day before our outing and were excited to spot this life-size cardboard cutout of him they could pose with.

There were ducks swimming on the lake. The white one seemed to be in the lead and then there was a tight circle of eight or nine other ducks following it. I tried to take a picture but my cell phone camera accidentally got jostled into video mode and all it captured was a very disappointing blur.

My three-year-old great-grandson seemed to be mesmerized by the sight of them swimming back and forth. 

Here we have a shot of one of my out-of-town grandsons and his girlfriend posing for the camera. 

My daughter, leading the way.

Me and one of my out of town granddaughters. 

One of the other out of town grandsons posing with Santa.

My daughter posing with four of her grandchildren.

My oldest granddaughter.

One of the littles checking out the sheep in the petting zoo at the end of the walk-through.

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, thanks for taking the time to view all my many pictures. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

SUNSET OVER SPRINGFIELD VA

This Christmas I did not have to drive myself back and forth to our family get-togthers. My family provided rides so I would not have to cut my visits short by having to leave before dark.

One big perk was being able to take pictures along the way, like this view of the sunset on our way home from Springfield, VA on Christmas day.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This morning after church I went for a little walk to see the Christmas decorations in my neighborhood. To my surprise, there were hardly any on the road between church and home, which is usually highly decorated. This was all I saw.

As I was about to drive home, a bunch of "Happy Birthday" signs caught my eye. 

Could they be Happy Birthday Jesus," I wondered as I pulled over to check them out, but they were not.

I wonder who Emerick is.

The arch shaped like a Christmas tree ball that welcomes you in is so pretty. I'm sure it's even more lovely when it's lit up in the dark.