HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
This year, over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Barbara and I took a 15-day “vacation” at our Easton, CT house. The highlight of our stay was
one hell of a snowstorm.
On the day after Christmas, we were seated in our den, warmed by a picturesque fire in the hearth ("aFa" are the initials of Barbara’s dad).
It was such a calm scene . . . .
. . . But that evening, the snow began to fall and I started to take pictures – all of which in this portfolio were taken through glass from inside the house (no slippery falls outside for me).
The little barn that sits in our driveway is home to thousands of VHS tapes
that I recorded from movies on TV over the years, which are of
absolutely no use now.
The snow-covered structure pictured here surrounds a hot tub
that received little attention during these two weeks.
The snow blanketed branches of trees . . . .
. . . and bushes . . .
. . . . and tree limbs.
Here’s a little bit of everything.
More snow on bushes . . . .
. . . and here in spades.
This is one of my favorite views from inside the house.
An up-close view of the colorful chairs.
When you shoot a snowy scene from inside a window, you sometimes get
an icicle bonus.
Our outdoor back deck looked at its decked-out best.
From the mirror we put up across the road, you can see here the first pass of the local road-clearing team.
Let’s close the first phase of our vacation weather by sympathizing with one of our dogs (Stella), who looks anxious to get back into the house.
Then, two days later, we were hit by a rainstorm of considerable magnitude, which cleared the snow off the tree limbs . . . .
. . . and did a real job on the smaller trees.
That’s the rain on our window. . .
. . . which went on for hours.
Check out those sizeable raindrops falling on the big tree . . .
. . . close up.
Not much chance of relaxing in this second floor terrace lounge chair.
Our cars were able to handle the rain . . .
. . . but it was a mess getting to them.
The road looks pretty good . . .
. . . and our driveway appears usable.
The big trees and hammock were serene that evening.
Now it’s the next day, and the sun has finally decided to make
an appearance.
There’s still a lot of snow on the ground.
These are the footprints that some of our six dogs left in the softer snow
after the rain.
Here’s a close-up of their work.
This guy isn't one of the six. . .
. . . nor are these other two.
Our view of the road from a downstairs window.
These chairs are ready for occupancy.
It’s now New Year’s Eve, and the rains have returned.
Here’s the scene at midnight, welcoming 2026
We finally got some good (albeit cold) weather for the rest of
our wintry vacation.
Here's one of my favorite trees, as viewed from our bedroom.
The key to this photo is the little dog, overshadowed by big trees and a hefty shadow.
I’m focusing now on the hammock and its shadow image.
Here are plenty more canine footprints . . .
. . . a couple of the dogs . . .
. . . and one of the East Coast’s most fabled doyenne of canines.
As our time in CT came to an end, we still had about half the remnants of the big snow.
Here’s the gate to our property, ready to be opened for our farewell voyage.
Cars are using the highway . . .
. . . as you can see over the foliage and snow.
And so we departed the scene, leaving an abstruse pattern in the snow for future generations to decipher.
But wait – that’s not the end to our snowy tale for January 2026. Two weeks later, a new storm came through; and when it was over, unlike the prior one, the sun shown very brightly to make available shots like this (all taken from inside through windows).
That posed a new photographic decision to be made. All my prior snow pix in this portfolio were photographed in color. On most computer photo apps (like mine), you can apply a black & white filter to the color photo, as I’ve done here; and this often makes a real difference as to
how the shot appears.
The distinction is most notable when, as on this shot, the sun is shining and there’s a blue sky or some other color aspect to the photo. Here, the blue sky adds a nice touch, so I prefer it over the filtered black & white, although other observers may take a different view.
The filter I used here (labeled “noir”) provided a more prominent touch to the icicles than the color version, so I prefer it.
Both of these views are attractive, so it’s simply a matter of taste.
You can really see the difference on this good shot. I imagine each would have its adherents.
There’s not much difference here – which do you like best?
Same here.
On this one, the clarity of the filtered version appeals more to me.
But where there is real color involved in the picture, as here, stick with the color photo.
And for this interaction of snow, sky and snow-covered branches, I’ll stick with the color version to close the portfolio.