After all the vivid colors of leaf-changing season, I welcome the calming color palette that winter brings as it settles in. It gives the eye and the mind time to relax and soak in all of the cool grays and blues. It is also the time of year when nature's beautiful silhouettes appear in stark patterns against a backdrop of crisp winter skies. The change of seasons allows one to appreciate and be inspired by nature as colors and textures once again reinvent themselves in new and interesting ways.