Let me share with you...

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Winter has finally come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Actually, we rarely have snow, but you can use your imagination and the photo to "see" what snow might look like on our beaches. If it does snow, it doesn't stay on the ground for very long. Everyone gets excited and rushes out to take pictures, and one or two people build skinny snowmen about a foot tall. Maybe there is enough show to throw one or two snowballs. This may happen every ten years or so. On the other hand, we have been known to have to use the air conditioner on Christmas Day! Having lived in Colorado for 12 years, I long for snow whenever the skies get cloudy and the temperature dips below 32 degrees. But conditions are rarely favorable for snow here. Alas, it must remain in my dreams and memories... the dreams of when I lived in Colorado and experienced the beautiful mountains covered like a magical wonderland. On Christmas Eve 2004, we left Biloxi and went to visit family in Orange Beach, Alabama. There was about a 30 % chance of snow, and although I wished for it, almost everyone figured it was just weatherman "hype". Well, it rained all day in Orange Beach, but when we left to come home around 5:00 Christmas Day, sleet mixed with show began to fall. Wouldn't you know that by the time we reached Mississippi, it had turned to only rain, but we learned that it had sleeted and showed all day and it covered the ground. The children next door made a snowman, and I missed it! The only time it snowed on the Coast on Christmas since the 50's. This is where I would love to be, just for a little while. I can look at these photos and imagine myself in the Rockies once again.

Let me share with you our normal winters on the Gulf Coast:  Sometimes it gets cold enough to light a fire in the big fireplace in the Family Room, the central gathering place in our house. We enjoy the crackle of dancing flames as they send a cheerful warmth throughout the room... that is, if it ever gets cold enough! In 1998 we did have a really cold spell just before Christmas. In 1999, Vern has several huge stacks of wood chopped just waiting for it to get cold enough to light a fire. This winter (2000), we've had a mild winter, but when it does turn cold, we are putting some of the wood to good use, and this year I got some of those magical sprinkles that turn the fire pretty colors!     Around this time of year, birds still frequent the bird feeders, and on warm days they bathe in the bird baths. We have cardinals year 'round, and always keep food for them.   The squirrels scurry to and fro, picking up an acorn here and there, and chewing up pine cones. Pelicans, ever more abundant in this area, can sometimes be found in small flocks out in the Mississippi Sound, up and down the sand beach, and even in Back Bay. Lately, a lone pelican has been soaring above the bridge in search of a fish to dive for. I love to go across the bridge and watch them soaring low in the sky. Sometimes they can be seen just sitting in the still water; sometimes I see several flying over the bridge. I never ceased to be thrilled at the sight of them! A few days after Christmas this year, we saw a large flock of white pelicans flying a little askew close to the beach. They are rare here, and were probably on their way to somewhere else.     Most of the winters are humid, rainy and very moderate. We may have a few hard freezes, the first of which this year came after Christmas. Before the temperatures dipped below 23 degrees, many of my flowers were blooming, including a not-so-unusual wintertime blooming of azaleas, which are supposed to bloom in March.   Pink Camelias (Triple Blossoms):   Nandina Berries:   Red Camelias (Double Blossoms):   Impatients blooming by the doorway:   Alas, the freeze did come. Most of the annual flowers were killed, although we still have the Nandina berries. The unopened buds of the camelias will still open beautifully. The impatients and azaleas are gone. All of the house plants that I keep outside have been moved into the garage until danger of frost is over. Back Bay has lost its color... The Coast has settled in for its winter snooze, awaiting springtime. It is a time for resting, for reading while snuggled under a blanket while sipping a cup of hot chocolate or Earl Grey tea, for naps, for reading a great book and for just being lazy. All the world needs some "down time", because "for every season there is a time".  Time to hibernate and renew ourselves for the coming spring when everything will be reborn.

If you would like more of a get-away from your real winters up north (the ones in which you are below zero for days at a time, snowed in, and tired of plowing, visit some of my other pages. I have magnolia photographs, a page about Biloxi, and some Spanish Moss pages. Or, scroll on down for a few pictures of the lovely water and beaches we have around here to help warm your blood. Here are the sea oats in the early fall... Here is the Back Bay close to my house in summer. In winter all of the sea grasses just turn a sage brownish gray. Feeling warmer yet?

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Credits: Music from Laurie's Midi Haven Most Photos taken with my (then) new Olympus Digital Camera; some with my Minolta SLR. Snow scenes and the Cardinal taken from "Key Photos", a photo CD. Disclaimer: All sounds and graphics not considered to be in public domain are either credited to others or created by me. Flower and pelican photos and page content and design copyright Jan. 9, 1999 by Linda S. Nix.

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Page created January 9, 1999 and has had this many visitors.

(Updated 1/3/2004)

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