We are in for at least seven days of real winter here in Delaware — highs in the twenties, lows in the teens and single digits. I am delighted! Having lived eleven years on the California coast and thirty in central Texas, I missed the winters I knew as a child in Rhode Island and New Jersey. I remember walking down shoveled paths with snow on either side as tall as I was. Of course, I was only five years old! C.S. Lewis imagined winter and ice as the work of an evil witch, spring green as the work of a redeeming lion. Me, I hope to find heaven (at least occasionally) to be a place of swirling ice tapestries and landscapes of pure white and cozy cottages with cups of hot cocoa that heat my hands and blazing fireplaces that make my cheeks tingle as they thaw. For a few days, it seems I can have that here, on earth as it is in heaven.
PHOTO PRAYER 2026-04
Photograph of ice that has frozen and re-frozen in Naamans Creek, Arden, Delaware. Photograph copyright 2022; text, 2026, by Danny Nelson Schweers.
COMMENTS
Rosemary C. wrote:
Very sweet, Danny. I had enough of winter for 24 years in Buffalo and each year’s six months of gray when living there. You make winter look so poetic but I’m not sold yet. I do love the image though!
Alice V. E. wrote:
As my dad used to say, “To each his own.”
Alice S. wrote:
Danny: I love this posting. Too often we only think about the inaccessible roads and the cold temperature. But when I look out the windows of our house with the snow covered trees and bushes and the lawn covered with snow, it does make for a wonderful tableau. Hope you and yours are staying safe and warm.
Mary L. wrote:
Beautiful photo Danny. It looks like chiseled leather, not ice. Love the poem as well. Stay warm. We had several days of 18-19 degrees here in Austin. Brrrrrr.
Bernadette D. wrote:
YES! Plus it’s good for the garden too, putting everything thoroughly to sleep till early spring, and keeping bugs dead or buried long enough for me to wade safely through the ivy to cut it off all my trees this February! AND… once you get used to 30 and below, 40 degrees is a breeze! I like seasonal variety!
T. C. D. wrote:
Yes, Danny, it’s all beautiful!
Diane-Louise C. wrote:
This is beautiful.
Faye G. wrote:
Beautiful, Danny. Thanks for your images and your prayers.
Lawrence L. wrote:
Great photo. What is the scale of the photo? [Danny said: about nine inches top to bottom in the photo as I remember.]
Audrey C. wrote:
[emojis for hands together in blessing, a heart, and a tulip]
Saundra J. wrote:
Join you in loving winter. You and yours be safe!