The weather has flourished its editorial powers on our lives this weekend, punctuating each day how it will, dropping periods and commas into our plans. Hail, rain, wintry mix, fat snow, fast snow, blue skies, and gray: we had it all this weekend. Strangest of all, it has been exclaiming, too, with lightning and thunder over the snowy streets. Yes, the snow actually stuck.
The first flakes were solitary and light
![DSC_7835 DSC_7835](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/e0b4b0467da0a90bd3ae43251eaaba7f/DSC_7835-900x900.jpg)
![DSC_7828 DSC_7828](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/80a66c05744073b801ccaef18762ac27/DSC_7828-900x900.jpg)
their pristine brightness cornering into the smallest of spaces,
![DSC_7843 DSC_7843](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/acb716dd6ff974b862b4ea24afc72edc/DSC_7843-900x900.jpg)
and the absolute brilliance of this instant of calm brought in a new season tenderly, with grace.
![DSC_7837 DSC_7837](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/3b1e5ab369ca316ef8fe851ff4e99ba4/DSC_7837-900x900.jpg)
You must realize, of course, that snow is a small miracle here, let alone the four to five inches we collected this weekend; the county is soundly unprepared to take care of the sidewalks and roads. We've been penguin-walking on landscapes of ice some days, and tip-toeing to avoid inches of gray slurp others.
![DSC_7832 DSC_7832](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/85adb58cfb4f3b09edf9e984b2be5401/DSC_7832-900x900.jpg)
It took five minutes flat for the world to change from puffy clouds to a swirling blizzard. My friend and I got to watch as the haar, the famous Scottish fog, came off the sea, bold and dense, like a movie in fast forward. I've seen it only twice, and it is phenomenal.
Here's how it happens: one minute, the sky is happy and blue,
![DSC_7810 DSC_7810](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/fe4a2c849a6012b69f8ec41822226e5f/DSC_7810-900x900.jpg)
and then there is a dark haze.
![DSC_7813 DSC_7813](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/4228326e4b3738cd723e420838a9544a/DSC_7813-900x900.jpg)
Watch that line right under the horizon; that's the fog line pushing forward the nearly-opaque mass.
![DSC_7818 DSC_7818](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/3a56d2bcdf09af734533c164f860afe0/DSC_7818-900x900.jpg)
We found ourselves speed-walking away from the sea, trying to avoid being parenthesized by the tight gloom.
![DSC_7824 DSC_7824](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/76817e7c226c5a273287791a41efcabf/DSC_7824-900x900.jpg)
It's a spectacular, if not intimidating sight, that haar. How Scottish.
When we're out in the harshness, we double the socks and gloves. But right now,we are warm and safe inside, thankful for the added brightness outside. Walker's working in perfect paper-writing conditions, and I've just enjoyed the warmth of an armful of clean laundry. With the peace of snowflakes pouring down in the nasty cold, being cuddled on the couch is all the more pleasant.
![DSC_7928 DSC_7928](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/732de63397112fec108cb5d68f73cf95/DSC_7928-900x900.jpg)
There is something entirely comforting and satisfactory about boots piled by the door, coats pushing each other off their hooks, and a tightly closed door.
![DSC_7938 DSC_7938](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/3542bb9526621eb9fb68570d6bf4e102/DSC_7938-900x900.jpg)
The seasons have swapped, and although I'm snowed in from my Christmas tree search, we are in awe of this white gift.
![DSC_7838 DSC_7838](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/83d982fc37103dbf4e4c5286a8039f06/DSC_7838-900x900.jpg)
Post-script (which I never do): as I was wiping the counter tonight, it almost sounded like our doorknob was being shaken. Check out this hail! We're talking a centimeter in diameter; Walk and I both thought it looked like massive dippin' dots!
![DSC_7939 DSC_7939](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/1c040486c61e314645c9e950878a5bd4/DSC_7939-900x900.jpg)
Goodnight from Candyland!
![DSC_7946 DSC_7946](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/5f75a4dd6331f6973651194d96512612/DSC_7946-900x900.jpg)