A friend posted this picture of her two granddaughters walking across the frozen lake to the Rosseau lighthouse.

Rosseau's lighthouse is a beloved and interesting landmark. It sits right out in the water, not on a visible piece of land, but on a shoal, as a warning to boaters that the generally quite deep lake has an underwater, invisible hazard. Also unlike other lighthouses, it does not employ a beam of light, but rather serves as a daylight, physical beacon. 

Many of Canada's lighthouses were decommissioned as better navigational technology came along, and many were divested by the government who no longer wanted to pay for their upkeep. Rosseau's community banded together and purchased the lighthouse and took over its maintenance. It underwent a renovation and freshening up a couple of years ago.

I think just about everybody in Rosseau has at some time or another visited the lighthouse, be it by boat, or by foot or snowmobile in the wintertime. Seeing this photo of the two girls not only reminded me of my own winter and summer treks to visit the lighthouse, but also of many a hike with my own sister, when we were the age of these two girls, bundled up in snowsuits and scarves and boots, learning to make the most of wintertime in Canada.

This little pastel is just 5x7 inches, and the girls are maybe a centimetre tall on the paper. It came together quite quickly, given the predominance of white in the scene. That said, there was a strong difference between the warm grey-whites of the overcast sky and the cool blue-whites of the snow. And with all this white came the added challenge of making the white lighthouse pop against the background of snow and sky. I like that the girls' coats are the real focal point, even though they are so tiny.