Library Courtyard in the Snow

We got another winter storm Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. It started with sleet and freezing rain and then moved into snow; by morning, we had about four to six inches of snow in our local area, with intermittent freezing precipitation predicted to continue until noon, or possibly later.

The University where I work hardly ever cancels classes or closes due to the weather. But on this morning, I awoke to the news that we had been given a two-hour delay. Such a delay gives the physical plant folks an opportunity to clean the snow off the many parking lots and sidewalks on campus before other staff arrive.

Closely monitoring the weather forecasts regarding the pending storm, I had decided the day before that I would take the bus to work. There are only two morning buses where I live, and the closest stop is about a five-minute walk from my drive way: one arrives shortly after 7, the other one around 8:30. The drill is this: I take a bus to campus, and from there grab a connecting bus to the building (off-campus) where I work. To get home, I reverse the process.

Taking the later bus, I would arrive on campus with an hour to spare before my work day started. An hour with a very empty campus, fresh snow, and my camera!

So I wrangled my parka from my cat (whose tabby strategy to keep me from leaving was two-pronged: 1, occupy the parka, and 2, hide the change purse with quarters in for the bus), packed a daysack, grabbed my iPod shuffle, and caught the bus.

I spent about an hour walking around campus listening to an awesome 80s soundtrack and taking pictures of the snow (in total, I took about 200 pictures, many in black and white, which captured the scenes in that sort of timeless way that black and white always does).

Then I rewarded myself with a special treat: I popped by the Starbucks on campus and bought myself a huge, fancy, hot coffee drink and sipped it while watching out the windows on the bus ride to my building.

On a winter's day, picture me thus: fully happy and satisfied because I've been doing what I love best; a fancy hot coffee warming up my cold little hands; nose pressed against the window of the bus; eyes sparkling like a little kid, fully enjoying the snow.

At the end of the day, I reversed the process: caught a bus back to campus and walked around for a few minutes, shooting another 50 or so shots, before catching the bus home.

By late afternoon, the temperatures were above freezing and the fresh snow we had gotten overnight - already a rather damp snow - was starting to melt. I was glad I'd had time to capture as many morning photos as I did, while the snow was new and fresh.

I walked by the library - a central campus location - and saw this little courtyard in the snow. The scene was one of perfect symmetry. Bench to the left, bench to the right. Bush to the left, bush to the right. Square pavement tiles in neat rows. Pairs of windows.

And in the day's rather gray conditions, yellow light shone out from the library windows like a beacon, warm and welcoming. "Winter traveler, come in, come in!" the golden light seemed to say; "We have beautiful books inside; come in, come in!"

But alas I had a bus to catch, and so I could not stay. But I tried to capture the magic of that moment in this picture: the benches, the snow, the bushes, the pavement, the windows. And beaming out over all of that, the golden, welcoming light.