When the houseboat stirred awake at about 7:00 this morning with the news that the storm which had passed through overnight had left a light dusting of snow all around our cove, right down to the water line, I was faced with the dilemma of getting out of my cozy sleeping bag to partake fully of the unexpected beauty, or just to peek out the window and go back to sleep. Which is what I did. The latter.

There was little sleeping to be had this morning, though, since David was leaving us and we had to get him back to the marina so he could dig the big red truck out of the snow (if necessary) and be on his way south in the pouring rain. I managed to get up before he took off, for a proper goodbye and a warning to be careful. Then there were only five of us left for the rest of the weekend, and somehow, suddenly it was much quieter on the boat.

We set off through the eerie wonderland of snow-covered banks and white-spotted tree tops, in search of another safe harbor where we could tie up and spend the day. At the first place we tried, the ground was too soft and slushy to drive the stakes, so we moved around the point to rockier ground.

The sun broke through briefly, but it also rained off and on, heavily at times, so we entrenched ourselves aboard the houseboat, some of us reading and other playing dominoes as Eric Clapton and Billy Joel played on the sound system. (Music, not dominoes.) It was a most satisfying way to spend the day. (For me, anyway, since I had almost no responsibilities. I think I'm finally catching up on my rest and straightening out my head. It seems as if it's been months.)