Sounds of the Winter on Christmas Eve

A bright, holiday sun lured us out for a Christmas Eve walk and my oldest daughter Katherine and I obediently obliged.
Not four blocks into our excursion, we realized our mistake as a biting wind rendered our lips and legs numb and reduced our cheery chat to monosyllabic mutterings.
“Brrr,” I said.
“Yeah,” Katherine replied.
Turns out everyone else in our active town had gotten the “yikes the temperature has dipped memo” leaving Katherine and me to stroll the streets solo.
Literally, we did not see a single other human being out on our hour-long walk through the city.
Frostbite aside, we thoroughly enjoyed the view. Snow crystals dressed up frozen branches and garland twinkled. We walked through a winter wonderland, with front porches all gussied up for Christmas and city parks pristine under the freshly fallen snow.
Walt Whitman said, “Thou shalt perceive the simple shows, the delicate miracles of earth.”
This was the first gift of Christmas for us, the quiet calm before the storm of food, family, faith and fun.
Please enjoy this simple show, a few pictures of the delicate miracles of earth.