While vegetables roasted in the oven for the black bean soup that will be consumed during our Christmas gathering, I stepped outside to get some fresh air on this snowy day.

The bird feeders and ground beneath are always more active during storms and today was no different. At least forty juncos accompanied by one white-throated sparrow have been repeat feeders and occasionally the male cardinal invites his female friend along. Tufted titmice, goldfinches, chickadees, a downy woodpecker, nuthatches and bluejays rounded out the flock.

Though conditions are expected to change by morning, with an ice storm in the forecast, today’s gift was fluffy and light as it embraced me in silence.

Because of that fluffiness, it built up quickly, bedecking branches with puffy clouds of white.

And then, when I stepped into a darker world where the hemlocks grow in a dense grove, I began to notice something.

On every branch of every tree . . .

snowflake garlands . . .

danced. And I was reminded of a story I used to read to my nephew and niece when they were babes–it was based on a legend about a poor family who had no decorations for their Christmas tree. As the tale goes, while the children slept, spiders spun webs of silver around the tree’s branches. The next morning, the family awoke to a Christmas tree sparkling with silver webs. Today’s webs were such and I was richer for the experience.

I’m also richer for other gifts, such as Washington State University’s white cheddar cheese;

an ornament created with birch seeds and their fleur de lis bracts placed between mica sheets from Mount Apatite in Auburn,

a box filled with heartwood samples all labeled,

and just a few minutes ago a lengthy e-mail from someone who had read the article entitled “digging for roots” that I wrote for the winter issue of Lake Living magazine. The gentleman who sent the note had gone out of his way to visit my guy’s store and ask for my address. He wanted to share his own experiences of dipping into the past and suggested a few avenues my guy and I might follow with our search for ancestors.

I’m totally blown away by these unexpected gifts. And forever blessed.