JourneysPhotograph

Waking Up to a Heavy December Snowfall

·Truckee, California·#winter#tahoe#snow#home#snowstorm
Snow-covered evergreen trees, a string of colorful lights, and a white ski lift chair under a pale blue sky.

A heavy storm came through overnight on December 11th, leaving behind a deep, quiet landscape. The snow was thick, weighing down all the pine branches until some of the smaller trees were bent completely over to the ground. The sky had that pale, flat look it gets after a big snowfall, absorbing all the sound. Even the colorful string lights we had up were caked in a thick layer of white.

The sheer volume of it was impressive. I went to look out one of the downstairs windows and was met with a solid wall of white. The snow had piled up so high against the house that it completely blocked the view, reaching well above the windowsill. It’s always a bit startling to see just how much can fall in a single night up here.

Outside, everything was buried under a smooth, undisturbed blanket. The bear box next to the driveway had all but disappeared, becoming just another rounded shape in the landscape. It was clearly going to be a day for digging out, but for that morning, everything was just completely silent and still.

Heavy snow blankets pine trees, a ski lift chair, and colorful string lights in a winter landscape.Multiple trees are heavily laden with fresh white snow covering branches and ground under a pale blue winter sky.A deep pile of snow almost completely fills a window, with snow-covered trees and a grey sky visible above.Deep snow covers a wooden hot tub and numerous pine trees in a wintry landscape.