My boys love to be outside in any weather. Even when the temperature drops into negative territory — which thankfully doesn’t happen too often here, at least when using the Fahrenheit scale — they want to be outside daily. Currently, my 5-year-old plans to homestead at the North Pole when he grows up (just to show how much he loves winter).

And then there’s me. I tend to get cold easily. Instead of calling me outside, Winter beckons me to curl up inside with a cup of hot tea and a good book. The freezing winter, gray skies, and icy winds do not typically hold the same energizing appeal that I love in Fall or Spring days.

But when I do finally overcome all of my inner objections, bundle up, and venture outside with my boys, I find that Winter speaks to my soul as well. The crisp, quiet beauty of fresh snow, observing the plants and trees in their dormant state as they also await the rebirth of Spring, finding evidence of Winter animal visitors as they roam our mountain yard in search of food and shelter; all of these quietly whisper to me that this season is not without own appeal.

Here a couple more visions of Winter beauty, that we captured as we walked around our yard: