It was easy to imagine this scene in the spring or summer with children playing and people sitting under this tree talking in the afternoon sunlight as the river (which is half frozen in this photo) rolls on and on and on.

We were headed some place other than where we ended up. In other words, we took a side road by mistake (we were looking for horses) and came upon a small field of sheep that were more than  happy to pose for the camera.

It was easy enough to get into Canada. We forgot our passports, which was crazy. But at the border, the Canadians (dressed in bullet proof vests) seemed almost disinterested in what we were going to do in their country. We had to stand behind the black line at customs, answer all the questions, and I’m sure have our photos taken. Yes, most of us were born in America, and all we wanted to do was to see Niagara Falls. They smiled and probably thought, “tourists.” But as we got back in the car and continued on, I had a sinking feeling inside and knew that while we were “in the country” getting out would be a different story. Boy, was I ever right.

Everything was ice covered on the American and the Canadian sides.

I actually saw people climb on the stone and iron work behind me to pose for photos. You can barely see the ice, but trust me it was over an inch thick in places.

Here’s a “throw back” photo of the Canadian falls. It reminded me of something from the 40′s. The area below and on the right is one of the observation decks, which was closed due to the ice. Even though it was cold, there were lots of people visiting  Niagara Falls. When we drove away, we agreed that we were glad we had made the trip. Then we went down the hill to the Rainbow Bridge where we faced the American Border patrol. We had to explain why we did not have our passports, what we were doing in Canada, and why one of us was born in Japan. I felt really bad about all of this until I talked with friends a day later and heard their experience was just as rough, and they had their passports with them!

BTW: according to one guide book, one of the most frequently asked questions is: “Do they turn the falls off at night?” With that thought, I’ll just say, “Happy New Year” and “good night.”

I recently learned why icicles form on buildings. Usually, it is a sign that there is not very much insulation in the building. I’m from the south and clueless about weather this cold. The church in the above photo located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, had a wonderful display of icicles. But I concluded after taking this photo, it was not very warm inside!

And there was lots of snow, too—snow everywhere.

Atlanta, Georgia, is usually known as “Hot ‘lanta” just not today. Yesterday snow moved in and blanketed the city late in the afternoon. This was the first time in more than a 100 years that the city had snow on Christmas Day. The city is barely visible at the top of this photograph.