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A Rose Among Snow

Everyone knows that roses and thorns go together. In fact, there are many quotes about their relationship. My personal favorite is by Alphonse Karr: "Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses."

However, I couldn't find one quote about roses and snow. (Other than in a book titled, "Snow and Rose," that is.)

Snow and roses just don't usually go together. However, in December of 2017 in Birmingham, AL, they did. In the early part of that month there was a snow that totaled several inches and gave those of us who live here a false hope that it was possible to expect a white Christmas in a few weeks. 

I lived in East Tennessee for about 25 years. This was the kind of snow we got where I lived a few times a year - every year. Here this is a once-a-decade kind of snow - in my opinion.

Because I grew up in Birmingham, I also knew that this could go away quickly. Snow can melt in a heartbeat in the South. Plus, as a photographer, I had to preserve this rare occasion, so once the snow stopped, I quickly bundled up and headed out in my neighborhood to see what I could shoot. I took photos of the small snow-laden Christmas tree in our front yard first. Then I looked around...

...and absolutely loved what I saw at the next door neighbor's house.

She had several rose bushes with full-blown blossoms - and they were covered with snow. The contrast of the bright red flower vs the bright white snow was absolutely beautiful.

I took photo after photo of different angles and groupings before finally recognizing that I hadn't bundled up quite enough for the weather. I decided to go in and warm up a little before taking the mandatory photos in a big snow - the ruler stuck in the snow shots. 

I also got some great ones of one of my cats, a sturdy and very fluffy long-hair, and his little pawprints as he made his way through the yard. However, other than that, there just wasn't much to shoot and I had to get to work so I called it quits for the day. 

My daughter and I made snow cream, which was a tradition for us. If there was enough snow to scoop up some without getting dirt in it, we made snow cream. (Our snow cream has always been simply evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla and snow - with some chocolate syrup to make it unique.)

The next morning I woke up pleasantly surprised to see that the snow hadn't all melted. A two-day snow in Birmingham is a noteworthy event so I took my camera out to see if I could find something I hadn't the day before.

Once again, I took photos of the snowy roses because the sun was out and that would make the images different than those I took the day before. 

The roads were clear and I had errands to run so I left - but with my camera, just in case. As I started to leave, I just happened to see another of my cats on the side fence. I grabbed my camera and quickly got a shot... just in time, as she jumped down as soon as I hit the shutter button. This image turned out to be one of my absolute favorites of her.

It was a wonderful two days, though there was a touch of sadness associated with it. We had moved to Birmingham only the year before and we really missed having snow. We knew that this might be the last one this big we would see for a long time. 

But I guess I'll go back to my favorite of all the quotes I found on The Mighty Google, revised to fit this situation: "Some people grumble that Birmingham rarely has snow; I am grateful that at least this snow came to Birmingham."

                                                       (All images by Tracy Riggs Frontz)





A selection of the images above are available to order as custom prints, fulfilled by a professional lab, at https://NovelPhotos.Instaproofs.com.

If you have any questions, email NovelPhotos@yahoo.com.

If you don’t have time to order today, feel free to take a business card and order later using the middle QR code. The photos will be under “Trussville Library Gallery.”

If you have any questions, email us at NovelPhotos@yahoo.com.

If you want any hand-signed, get in touch with us before ordering. We can direct you to a gallery that doesn't have our digital signatures on them and we can work out what works best for you to get the signature you want.

To order a signed copy of Tracy’s book: Behind the Lens of a Storyteller – My Journey as a Photographer/Writer, go to https://NovelPhotos.instaproofs.com/BehindtheLens Note that shipping is included – be sure to use the coupon code “SHIPPINGINCLUDED.”

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