SOURCE : http://www.boston.com
Here in the northern hemisphere spring is but a rumor. Record snowfalls have taxed budgets and patience, and slowed transit from planes to pedestrians. Not that some aren't enjoying the abundance, as winter sports play out on beautiful frozen blankets of snow. Gathered here are images of people struggling with and enjoying their wintery blasts. -- Lane Turner (47 photos total) 
Ice crystals form frost on the window of a home in Medina, Minn. on January 21, 2013. (Richard Sennott/The Star Tribune/Associated Press)
People visit the 15th International Sculpture Symposium "Snow Kingdom 2013" in Pustevny, Czech Republic on January 16, 2013. (Radek Mica/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Arielle Gold of the US eats snowflakes on the podium after the snowboard halfpipe finals at the FIS Snowboard World Championships in Stoneham, Quebec on January 20, 2013. (Mathieu Belanger/Reuters) # 
Vineyards winter under snow near Ebingen, Germany on February 8, 2013. (Patrick Seeger/dpa/Associated Press) # 
Snow covered containers create a pattern in the port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands on January 15, 2013. (Robin Utrecht/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Around 2,000 people make snow angels at the University of Minnesota Duluth on February 9, 2013, in Duluth, Minn. The event was held to try to break the world record of 8,962 snow angels in one area set in 2007 in Bismarck, N.D. (Clint Austin/The Duluth News-Tribune/Associated Press) # 
Climbers clear snow from the roof of the stadium of FC Bayern Munich in Munich on January 18, 2013. (Joerg Koch/dapd/Associated Press) # 
Competitors get ready to take part in the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido on January 26, 2013 in London. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) # 
Children pour cold water on themselves under the control of fitness coach Margarita Filimonova at kindergarten number 317, with the air temperature at about minus 23 degrees Celsius, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia on February 5, 2013. The program has been practiced by the kindergarten for 15 years. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters) # 
South Korean special warfare forces take part in a winter season drill in Pyeongchang on January 9, 2013. (Dong-A Ilbo/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A man crosses himself after plunging into cold water to mark Epiphany in St.Petersburg, Russia on January 19, 2013. (Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press) # 
Participants of the National Championship Marathon at the Veluwemeer (Lake Veluwe) compete near Elburg, The Netherlands on January 25, 2013. (Vincent Janninck/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Swedish freeride skier Jon Oerarbaeck speeds down deep powder snow during a freeride skiing tour on Seegrube Mountain in Innsbruck on January 19, 2013. (Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters) # 
People play after a heavy snowstorm in the desert near Tabuk, Saudi Arabia on January 9, 2013. (Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters) # 
Miguel Sanchez, 16, flies off a ramp of snow on February 22, 2013 in Garden City, Kan. (Brad Nading/Garden City Telegram/Associated Press) # 
A pony runs in the snow near Warsaw, Poland on February 7, 2013. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A man skates past ice sculptures at a festival at the "Eight Lakes" Park-Resort outside Almaty, Kazakhstan on January 14, 2013. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters) # 
Adam Bloss, an inmate at the Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, cuts ice blocks from Lake Flower to be used in the construction of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival ice palace on January 28, 2013, in Saranac Lake, N.Y. (Mike Groll/Associated Press) # 
People ride an ice bicycle on frozen Houhai Lake on February 3, 2013 in Beijing. (Feng Li/Getty Images) # 
A stuntman jump his snowmobile before the 1st stage of the Rally Sweden, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship on February 7, 2013 in Karlstad, Sweden. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Anzhi Makhachkala's Ivorian striker Lacina Traore walks through the snow during a UEFA Europa League football match against Hannover 96 in Hanover, Germany on February 21, 2013. (Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A youth who has turned or will turn 20 this year, the traditional age of adulthood in Japan, speaks on a mobile phone following a coming of age ceremony at an amusement park in Tokyo on January 14, 2013. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press) # 
People cross a bridge in Bolton Abbey, England on January 14, 2013. (Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Snow is cleared off the roof of a house boat in Srinagar, Kashmir on January 18, 2013. (Rouf Bhat/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Retired teacher Gao Yinyu, 77, prepares to go for a swim in the nude in Jilin, China in -25 degrees Celsius weather. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A snowman greets pedestrians on January 19, 2013 in Paris. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Anwar Ali, 13 (left) and his brother Hamad, 8, warm themselves while waiting for customers to pose for a picture next to a snow statue they built on a roadside in Murree, Pakistan on January 9, 2013. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) # 
A man warms himself on a foggy winter day in Dhaka on January 10, 2013. Bangladesh recorded its lowest temperature in 45 years. (Andrew Biraj/Reuters) # 
Icicles form in an orange grove in Redlands, Calif. on January 15, 2013. A cold snap had farmers struggling to protect a $1.5 billion citrus crop. (Jae C. Hong)/Associated Press) # 
A commuter looks through a snow covered window of a tram in Minsk, Belorussia on January 17, 2013. (Victor Drachev/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A member of the ground staff clears snow from a C-17 cargo aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England on January 14, 2013. (Andrew Winning/Reuters) # 
"Wild' Silvesterchlaeuse (New Years Clauses) wearing costumes and cow bells march through the snow near Unaesch, Switzerland on January 12, 2013. They walk from house to house to offer best wishes for the New Year to the farmers in this region. After a performance of singing and dancing they usually receive food, hot drinks or money. (Walter Bieri/Keystone/Associated Press) # 
A seagull stands on Galata Tower in Istanbul on January 9, 2013. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images) # 
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy builds a snow man at the Western Wall on January 9, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) # 
A commuter ferry crosses the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia on January 23, 2013. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press/Associated Press) # 
Snow clings to trees in Westonbirt Aboretum on January 24, 2013 near Tetbury, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)# 
Gale Force winds make spectacular waves at the harbour in Seaham, England as they batter the seafront on February 6, 2013. (Owen Humphreys/PA/Associated Press)# 
Crews respond to a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 94 in Benton Township, Mich. on February 19, 2013, after a winter storm dumped several inches of snow. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium/Associated Press)# 
People shelter from the snow while walking along the Charles Bridge in Prague on February 12, 2013. (Vit Simanek/CTK/Associated Press)# 
People walk through snow covered streets in Copley Square during a blizzard in Boston, Mass. on February 9, 2013. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)# 
Afghan men walk on a snow-covered mountain on a cold winter's day outside Kabul on February 7 , 2013. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)# 
Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Charley De Jesus walks around an ice-covered warehouse that caught fire January 23, 2013. (John Gress/Reuters)# 
A barge motors out of Portland Harbor, where the temperature at sunrise was about minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit, on January 24, 2013, in Portland, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press)# 
An odd weather phenomenon called "cloud streets" cover the Great Lakes on January 22, 2013, seen by NASA's Aqua satellite. (NASA/AFP/Getty Images)# 
Japanese macaque monkeys huddle together against the cold at Awajishima Monkey Center on January 26, 2013 in Sumoto, Japan. (Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)# 
A man walks through a courtyard in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha, Russia on February 3, 2013. The coldest temperatures in the northern hemisphere have been recorded in Sakha. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)# 
A young woman breaks slabs of frozen snow floating on high water in Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy on February 11, 2013. (Andrea Merola/EPA)#
Let it Snow SOURCE : http://www.boston.comFor those who desire a layer of snow with their holiday season it's been mainly green and brown so far this year in the Boston area. Since the start of December, here are some places that have already had the chance to experience the beauty and sometimes annoyance of a winter wonderland. -- Lloyd Young ( 32 photos total) 
A train of the Brocken Railway steams through a winter landscape with snow covered pine trees as it approaches its destination on the Brocken mountain in the Harz mountainous region of Germany on Dec 8. (Stefan Rampfel/European Pressphoto Agency) 
A dog, covered with hoarfrost and snow, looks on during a snowfall outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters) # 
Davide Simoncelli of Italy descends the course on the first run en route to third place in the men's Giant Slalom at the Audi FIS World Cup on Dec. 2 in Beaver Creek, Colorado. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) # 
Children ride sleds down a hill as the first snowfall of the season hits Brussels, Belgium on Dec. 2. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters) # 
Saint Basil's Cathedral is seen peeping over snowdrifts at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 4. Heavy snowfall reportedly caused traffic jams and disruption to air travel. (Sergei Ilitsky/European Pressphoto Agency) # 
The sun shines behind the weather station and snow covered trees on the Fichtelberg mountain, in Oberwiesenthal, south eastern Germany, on Dec. 8. Parts of eastern and central Europe were hit hard by heavy snow and freezing temperatures. (Uwe Meinhold/Associated Press) # 
A man clears snow in Ilmenau, central Germany, on Dec. 11. (Michael Reichel/European Pressphoto Agency) # 
A car drives after a heavy snowfall on Dec. 9 in Liebenau, eastern Germany. (Arno Burgi/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A local walks with his ponies during the season’s first snowfall in the northern hilltown of Shimla, India on, Dec. 11. (AFP/Getty Images) # 
A boy rides his bicycle in a park as the first snow fall covers Sofia, Bulgaria, on Dec. 3. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A woman clears snow from a car in the Austrian province of Salzburg on Dec. 10. The weather forecast predicts continuing snowfall for the next few days. (Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press) # 
Airplanes on the tarmac at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam on Dec. 7. (Ruud Taal/European Pressphoto Agency) # 
A man rides a horse-drawn cart during heavy snow fall near the village of Petravinka, Belarus, on Dec. 5. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) # 
People jog in the snow in Aarhus, Denmark, on Dec. 9. (Dago/Polfoto, via Associated Press # 
Lenin's statue is covered with snow during heavy snowfall over Kiev on Dec. 11. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A boy holding a snowball runs over a street as snow falls on Dec. 1 in Berlin. (Hannibal Hanschke/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A man walks at a park during a snowfall in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria, on Dec. 11. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters) # 
A child walks in a park after heavy snowfall in Kiev, Ukraine, on Dec. 11. (Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters) # 
Snow covers roses in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Dec. 7. ( Martin Gerten/European Pressphoto Agency) # 
A man films with a tablet device after heavy snowfall in Kiev. (Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters) # 
A North Korean man scrapes off snow from the monument of anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Dec. 10. (Kyodo News/Associated Press) # 
A man rides his bicycle holding an umbrella as light snow covers the roads in Amsterdam on Dec. 7. Temperatures have dropped below freezing and more snow is expected to fall during the day, but the Dutch ride their favorite means of transport come rain or snow. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press) # 
A recovery worker tries to retrieve car lying in a dyke on the side of the road after skidding off due to ice and snow on the roads near Zurich, in the direction of Bolsward, the Netherlands, on Dec. 6. (Catrinus Van Der Veen/European Pressphoto Agency) # 
A couple walk under an umbrella during a heavy snowfall in Pristina, Kosovo, on Dec. 5. (Arment Nimani/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Fans wait in the snow before the NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Dec. 9. (Darren Hauck/Reuters) # 
A young polar bear wallows in snow at the public zoo in St Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 7. (Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A snowboarder takes a jump at the Erbeskopf near Deuselbach, western Germany, on Dec. 9. The highest point in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate has opened for the 2012/2013 winter season. (Thomas Frey/AFP/Getty Images) # 
People struggle against wind and drifting snow in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 5. (Andres Wiklund/AFP/Getty Images) # 
Workers clean a model replica of Cheops Pyramid of Giza, after snowfall in landscape park Miniwelt (Miniworld), in Lichtenstein, eastern Germany, on Dec. 7. The cultural park Miniworld presents about 100 original and true-to detail buildings and technical facilities at a 1:25 scale. (Jens Meyer/Associated Press) # 
People ski off piste at Val d'Isere, in the French Alps, on Dec. 11. Recent snowfalls have encouraged skiers to hit the slopes and the Val d'Isere authorities have opened certain slopes early. (Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images) # 
A runner dressed as Father Christmas runs in heavy snow during the 'Nikolaus Run' in the East German town of Michendorf on Dec. 9. Around 800 participants took part in the Santa Claus running competition that is hosted by the Laufclub Michendorf running association. (Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters) # 
Two girls play in the snow on the bank of an island in the middle of the Yenisei River, where the air temperature reached minus 22 degrees Celsius (minus 7.6 degrees Fahrenheit), in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on Dec. 6. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters) #
