Winter Carnival Photos- Part 1

The town's annual Winter Carnival began last night and runs, I believe, through the weekend. There are a bunch of activities that go on throughout those days but the only ones Sam and involve ourselves with are: 1) looking at the ice sculptures and 2) watching the Parade of Lights. 

Both of these take place on the first night of the carnival and had been postponed from Friday night due to the onslaught of a major snow and ice storm.

Normally, Sam and I would would walk the mile or so into town to participate ( I use that term very loosely) but with the said recent ice storm(s) we found walking to be way too dangerous. 

Instead, Sam and I drove into town, parked, then somehow managed to navigate the ice-covered sidewalks while inching our way down Main Street, snapping photos of the ice sculptures (or in my case, snapping photos of Sam snapping photos of the ice sculptures)- all without breaking any bones!

A Few Random Photos From Tonight's Walk

After bringing Sam to his social group, Helaina met me for a rare and very chilly dusk-into-dark walk along the canal. 

Many of these photos are blurry, especially as it gets colder and darker. Think of them as 'artistic'...

 

Good For Them

I don't know why it would surprise me, but I was happy to see the literal signs of acceptance at the neighboring town's Polish club...

Click to enlarge

 

A Few Random Photos From Today's Walk

 Along the frozen and freezing canal...

Sam's Favorite Cinnamon Bread

Today, for the first time this winter, Sam and I decided to bake cinnamon bread. Instead of baking several loaves, as we usually do, we only baked little snowmen and Christmas trees.

The first time I did this was many years ago when Sam was small. Instead of baking an additional loaf, I took some of the batter and I poured it into some molded pans. 

When they were done baking, I put them on the cooling rack. Sam came over and stared at them silently for quite awhile before going back to sit on the couch.

Later that afternoon, out of nowhere, Sam came over to me and quietly said, "That was a cool thing you did with that cinnamon bread." 

It's hard to convey how astounding that kind of comment was, coming from him at that point in time. 

I think about this a lot. And every time I do, I almost tear up.

 In case you're interested, Here's the recipe...

On Today's Walk

 

On the way back from the indoor farmer's market this morning, Sam and I got caught in a snow squall. I like it when things look Christmas-y, but I like it better when it looks Christmas-y at Christmas. 

By the time it approaches mid-January, I'm pretty much ready for spring.

Scenes From My Bird Feeder