I'm sure there were grownups who awoke this morning and felt the same excitement they did as a kid seeing the first snowfall of the year.  Only normally here at Joe's Pond that would have been in early to mid-October or November instead of nearly Christmas Eve. 

I'm no kid, but I admit to feeling a bit excited, or perhaps relieved, when I looked out this morning and saw the ground was white again.  Somehow, bare ground this late in the year makes me just a tad apprehensive. White is normal in December.  

We had a little sunshine earlier, but now snow is falling steadily - it's perfectly quiet outside and the brisk wind we had earlier has subsided.  It's encouraging, but probably isn't going to last, although the mountains may retain some winter conditions.  The pictures above were taken as this morning's snow was arriving.  The pond looks open in back of the islands where it had been completely iced over a few days ago.  It wouldn't take many hours of below freezing temperatures to close it in again, but I believe another warming trend is in the forecast. 

Every now and then there is a burst of wind that swirls the snow off the roof so it looks like a blizzard - and then the sun peeks through the clouds.  It's 23 degrees so I think our day will continue with off and on snow showers.  The trees are snow covered and there's enough on the ground so blowing snow will probably make driving a bit hazardous in some areas.  There will probably be unexpected icy spots, as well, so we all need to remember our winter driving habits.

So that's the good news (or not!) from Joe's Pond this morning.