white sky winter

Winter in upstate New York is bleak. Yes, occasionally there are sunny, bright, delightful days. But more often are days like this one: a "White-Sky Day." Say that to anyone who has lived up here, and they understand completely what this means. There is no precipitation, the ceiling is low, the clouds continuous and grey. Dreary.

That said, on days like this, when there are no shadows, the details of the landscape are stark. As a friend noted, the trees on the hillside across the lake in this image look like hairs on a thinning scalp. I saw it as thread painting: black and rust on white. Makes one wonder, eh? If two good friends can't see the same thing right away, then how are hostile nations ever even going to take the opportunity to tell each other what they see, compare notes, and then exclaim  "Oh! I never thought of it that way! Wow!" Sheesh.