Winter wears many faces, as do we all

I just spent nearly three weeks traveling.  Only from Ohio to Minnesota at the farthest but the diversity of the land, weather and people I encountered is amazing.
I saw:
 snow banks taller than single story houses.
 a village of ice houses and trucks on a lake
 a full size hockey rink on a lake, complete with bonfire area
deer eating bark from trees
an eagle soaring high in the sky
hawks waiting for their prey
squirrels eating and drinking from a heated bird bath
birds splashing in the heated bird bath with 6 inches of snow on the rail it sits on
people in long trains of snowmobiles
people shoveling, plowing, blowing snow
people walking their dogs in the snow, like it was a spring day in the South
the might Mississippi frozen solid, just waiting for the thaw to spew millions of gallons of flood waters
along its course
trees beginning to bud here in Ohio
people from all over the world, representing so many races and nationalities I cannot count them

This is just a small part of our world and it is as full of wonder for me as it was when I was a child,

What are their stories?  What are they doing, where are they going?

My imagination has been spinning and now Lent has begun and we are reminded to remember the commonalities of our world, creation and frailties.

I have much to think about and much to remember