WS Jonas, boombridge

After several days of incredible, "storm of the century" hype, Winter Storm Jonas roared into out neighborhood. To be sure, we were on the periphery—the classic nor'easter really walloped the mid-Atlantic region, from DC to NYC—but we received lots of wind and a good six inches of relatively dry, powdery snow. Around three, I laced up my new cold-weather Merrell Polars and strapped on the fresh-out-of-the-box Yukon Charlie's snowshoes and, weatherproof Fuji in hand, headed into the teeth of the mini-blizzard. It was cold, stinging, and almost blinding... I loved it. All the equipment, including my compromised wrists, worked relatively well, and though I pined for the precision of my dSLR, the little point-and-shoot does a credible job of capturing, in the worst weather, almost painterly images, such as this evergreen plantation I spotted en route to the refuge I wanted to explore. Then too, this is a camera I can afford. The all-weather housing for the Nikon is not in any budget, so without the Fuji, I'd have to learn to draw.