Still the middle of fall and already snow on the ground up at our cottage in Maine.  But even though it just finished melting the end of last April (with May patches in the woods) I still felt that tiny thrill as we drove up our icy dirt driveway late last nite. Snow is magical…transforming our dirty barren earth to a clean bright world. And it forces us to find cozy spots in our hearts as well as by the fire. Of course this time I didn’t have to shovel the walk — and if by March the snow is still piled as high as it was last year (see photo), I’ll be longing for humidity and horseflies.