I've got my love to keep me warm. (Rochester)

So last weekend we left this mellow, mild Southern November...

Goodbye, beautiful Blacksburg!

...and drove overnight, about 11 hours, north, to the land of the Icy and Snowy November. As I pointed out, though, it sure beats the Muddy, Windy and Sulky November that is usual in Rochester.

We attended church with Dad in the morning for Christ the King Sunday. That evening, we double-churched and visited the South Wedge Mission , my cousins' start-up, which is celebrating it's first anniversary! If I had a good camera, I might be able to show how this lovely little church how it really looks. Instead, I have this, the BRIGHTEST of all the dim images my poor camera was able to capture. You'll have to visit their FB picture album instead.

The visit to SWM was extremely centering for me. Matthew's sermon gave me The Flash (any Emily of New Moon fans out there?). For an infinitesimal moment, the point is, sometimes, we can see Beyond.

Monday morning found us driving past The City, westward,

to the border. To Canada, where my Grandma lives. The whole family had updated documents this time and got to have a visit with my Grandma and Grandpa in St Catherine's, ONT. It was cozy, quiet, and lovely to look into their eyes again.

On Tuesday, we made up for all our time in cars by spending most of the day outside.

Here we are at Wild Wings, the raptor sanctuary at Mendon Ponds Park (that park being one of my very favorite places ever).

The only non-avian animal was a rescued bobcat. Someone had tried to raise her as a pet and had declawed the poor thing!

Above, she chases Miles, to his delight.

There wasn't too much snow on the ground for most of Tuesday, maybe an inch or so. But things picked up that evening, as we frolicked in Dad's backyard.

All my snow dreams were coming true, two years in a row! I couldn't contain myself.

The snow on the ground at that point wasn't much, but it was top-quality packing snow. Perfect for snowballs, snowforts, and snow men!

His eyes are Coke bottle tops. His nose is a baby carrot.

His mouth is peppercorns.

And the kids made him, mostly, by themselves. I was like a really lackadaisical Artistic Director.

He has a hat made of leaves and "shoes" (skis) of sticks. His name is BarbaqueMan (M's choice) and he wants to hug you.

We tucked into the utter coziness that only a good snow can produce, that evening.

Here is one snapshot of bliss. I've got more.