Walking up the stairs to our second floor some time over the weekend, I was stopped in my tracks by the tiny bits of frost and ice that had frozen to the outside of the window. The sun was shining and the snowy patterns glistened like diamonds, the sun creating rainbow prisms that shot out from the frosty glass. I stood there, taking in the beauty of this simple act of nature.

It has been very cloudy for days and so when the sun came out, everything seemed to shine and be pronounced in a bright, yet brittle, way. I recognize that many people do not like this time of year with its cold winds and short days. But there is something about it all that I truly love, not the least of which is how welcoming almost all homes look with the lights on inside as you drive or walk by. There is a coziness that exudes from the windows when the lights shine out and reflect upon the snow.

Last night my husband and I walked around Lake of the Isles. The clouds were moving out and it was getting colder by the minute. Christmas lights blinked on many of the houses, a snow man there, a Christmas tree here and a whole herd of lighted deer grazed on one lawn. As our cheeks got redder and colder, the welcome lights within these houses seemed warmer and warmer. Each home seemed to glow with hospitality…..whether they intended to or not.

Friends had just given me Peter Mayer’s Midwinter CD. Later as I listened, I thought that these words must have been written for the experience I had just had. "The houses of winter stand in a row with chimneys that billow and windows that glow. They play out their scenes for the snow drifts and icy streets at night. Inside they are clearing their dishes away watching the news and recounting the day and reading their children stories before bedtime. And when the rites of the evening are done, the lights in the windows go dark one by one until the inhabitants all fall asleep and the houses of winter become houses of dreams."

Houses of dreams…..winter houses……yes, that’s what I saw…..welcoming me.