It looked like it might happen – and it did. One to three inches of snow was predicted for Christmas day in North Texas. We had planned to leave Dallas for Woodcreek Ranch, our other home 65 miles north of Dallas, before the “storm” hit. (I hear you laughing) Once that happened there would be no leaving Dallas until the roads cleared. Texas drivers are not known for their ability to handle slick or icy roads. Visions of pile-ups danced before my eyes.

We beat the traffic and drove up in the rain that preceded the snow. The first snowflakes started to fall shortly after we arrived. It’s not often that we get a real snow, maybe once every four or five years, more likely at Woodcreek than Dallas. Snow on Christmas day is even more unusual. But here it was. Not the biggest, but definitely more than a dusting.

Snow on the pastures, snow around the ponds, on the trail. Whiteness everywhere. Quiet.

Reflections On A Pond

Snow On The Water

Edge Of The Woods

On The Trail

The Tally-Ho Trail

Winter Pasture

Looking Northward

Patterns In The Snow

December 26. The sun is out today. Temperatures are rising. Soon it will all be gone. But this year we had a white Christmas in Texas. Yes!

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALL

Photos by Cecelia Feld. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

17 degrees! I kid you not. That’s what the thermometer said one morning this week. It was 26 degrees the morning before that. Nobody believes me when I say, “we really do have winter in Texas.” We live in North Texas, after all. What that means is that before you have time to pile on all those layers (which will come off by noon) it will feel like spring or fall again.

A crisp, but not freezing, winter day will find me walking the Tally-Ho Trail (named by my granddaughter) on our property called Woodcreek Ranch. We cut through the woods, removing only as many trees as necessary to create a winding trail which follows Choctaw Creek. The creek is deep and wide and carries huge amounts of water when it rains hard. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened in a while. Like most of Texas, we are sorely in need of rain.

The trail dips and rises for about 1½ miles. While I have photographed it in all seasons except summer (I’d rather be in Colorado), winter is my favorite. At this time the lines, shapes and textures of everything, the elements that are the essence of my paintings, prints and collages, really come into focus. This is the time of year when color plays second fiddle to everything else.

I invite you to walk the Talley-Ho Trail with me and see it through my eyes.

No need to bundle up!

Photos by Cecelia Feld. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.