My best Christmas gift was this snow, which is lasting, and lasting so perfectly in this cold. Perfect conditions, I ski down the slope from our back door, across the field, to the river, and it's hard to stop in the cold to take pictures, but I stop for one when I see the fallen bits of tree bark. This one standing up straight, looks like a hiker in the morning sun. I ski on into Rocky Narrows with the dogs trotting happily in front of me.