Westfield's Dickens Days held its annual SnowFire festival last night to celebrate the winter solstice. There was a good turnout despite the frigid weather, and the bonfire was nice and toasty warm. 
It was a nice way to celebrate the return of the light, under the moon and stars.
Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. From now until the Summer Solstice next June, the days grow longer and the light returns.
We got gypped over the weekend when the huge snowstorm barreling up the east coast bypassed us, leaving just a dusting here in Westfield. I felt a little left out yesterday morning, watching the news report record snowfalls in D.C. and the surrounding area. I was hoping to get some nice photos of the Snowpocalypse; I had to settle for ordinary snow pictures. I do like these bright red berries against the white ground though, at Grandmothers' Garden.
I found a nice stand of birches in Heritage Park this afternoon. They stand out nicely against the grey and brown of the winter woods.
I walked down to Stanley Park yesterday in what turned out to be freezing rain, and found frozen roses still clinging onto the bushes there. This is definitely the latest in the year I have ever photographed roses in the wild!
We had our first big snowstorm today here in western Massachusetts. Several inches of snow, followed by little ice pellets, and then rain. Fun, fun. But pretty.
Though not quite as nice as yesterday, today was still pretty nice for December, so I headed down to Heritage Park in East Longmeadow at lunchtime today. The swan was more than willing to pose for me.
Unfortunately, the sun was right behind him, but it made his feathers glow, so a bit of glare on the water isn't too much to put up with.
I also took a video of him with my iPod Nano, in which he comes right out of the water and follows me, making me giggle.
The trees along the pond at Stanley Park make an impressionist painting while reflected in the rippled water.
It's been dreary and grey all week, so I thought I'd post a little something to remind us that the sun does sometimes shine here in New England. ;)
Another sign of autumn is clumps of bittersweet hanging in the bare branches; a bright spot in a landscape growing more drab by the day.
Can you stand more roses? I'm just astonished that we still have them this late in the season. Truly a gift from Mother Nature.
These were all taken yesterday at Stanley Park.
It was unexpectedly warm yesterday, even though it wasn't sunny. There are quite a few trees that are already bare, but there is plenty of foliage left to enjoy nonetheless. This scene is in Stanley Park, heading toward the Carillon Tower and the rose garden.
There are even a few roses left!
I took this picture the other day at Stanley Park, up by the little pavilion above the blacksmith shop (whose roof is in the foreground).
I took this pic last week from across the pond, near the center of the above pic:
You can just see the columned edge of the pavilion in the middle right of the second pic.
I like getting different points of view. :)
Everywhere you look, bright colors adorn the trees. Even after a couple of windy, stormy days, there are still trees full of gorgeous leaves. I love this time of year!
The lovely, warm weather we had on Thursday was perfect for roses. So nice to still see them this late in the season!
Even the bees were taking advantage of the nice weather.
