First Coat

While working on Saturday I was driving through Northampton. It was too late to see this year's Hot Chocolate Run, which I heard topped last year's in participants. The streets had cleared by the time I drove through, but interestingly, there was a horse-drawn carriage making it's way down Main Street.



That's something new. Part of the new B.I.D. project, perhaps?

By nightfall, we were inundated with the season's first blast of white stuff.



But driving north on Sunday morning, it appeared that the snow didn't pile up too much, with some areas whiter than others. We were headed north to Hadley so Kelly could do some Christmas shopping, and decided to go via Belchertown to see how the mighty Quabbin was doing these days...



It is doing well, rest assured. Beautiful as always.





I was keeping an eye out for deer, as they can sometimes be spotted from the road, but none were to be seen. It's deer hunting season right now, maybe they were keeping a low profile...



With all the trees bare, there were some old house foundations and rock walls visible from the roadside. We made mental notes of where they were, to check them out when we come back more prepared for some hiking. We slowly did the road course from one entrance to the other, and back again.



Then on to Hadley...I rode shotgun, snapping scenery along the way. Pretty soon it will all be sparkling white, everywhere. And frigid cold. Winter hasn't even officially arrived yet...





...but it's time to brace for it and maybe look ahead, to far off Spring...