Some last pictures of the snow before it melts.
Weather
We’ve had rather a lot of it, haven’t we? Today it’s raining and the snow is super-saturated and heavy (this is the Voice of Experience speaking, as I went out and shovelled) and it’s altogether miserable and nasty. And yes, I know that it will melt, but it WILL MELT A LOT FASTER if one shovels. Continue reading “Weather”
Time for a walk
Well, it’s a cold day, that’s for sure.
Ice pellets everywhere! Evidently they didn’t turn into freezing rain last night—and a sheet of ice—as they did where we live.
Quite lovely on the branches: pellets and frozen drops.
Quite lovely everywhere, actually.
Nice crunchy trails in places.
And the first puddle ice I’ve seen!
Really, one couldn’t ask for a prettier day for a walk.
Snowy star
Snow without destruction
Thought I should post some pictures of less catastrophic things so that it’s clear it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Snow events
Monday Feb 24, noon:
This is the current view from our dining room patio doors. I just watched these trees crashing down from the neighbouring lot—more exciting dining entertainment than I usually get at lunchtime. I guess the fence repairs this year will be more significant than usual.
I’m so very glad they didn’t come down 30 degrees to the right, or I would be wearing the skylight.
And it’s still snowing. Hard.
—————
Tuesday February 25th, late afternoon
So.. what has been happening in our neck of the woods?
Floopy snow
It’s snowing again. I was inside working today instead of outside taking pictures, so I’m posting pictures from the Previous Snow. It was a floopy snow; big soft lolloping lumps on everything.
Floopy and dangly at times.
And kinda cuddly, in a chilly sort of way.
Snow on leaves
More pix from the snow. It was lovely and light and fluffy and sat on all the salal in a kind of friendly, lumpy way.
I’m not finished with snow yet
All the snow is long gone, but that doesn’t mean the photos of it are.
After the snow
So this is what our yard looked like early this morning. The air was much warmer than it’s been and the snow that fell was soft and wetter. Interestingly, the warmth seemed to give everything a browner cast—it’s not just the way the camera shot it. Perhaps it was the effect of melting snow on the pond ice.
Lots of things to take pictures of, in any case.
Before the snow
Yes, I know, that’s snow on the ground. But it’s last week’s snow, still hanging about and getting a bit grubby. I just threw all my snow pictures promiscuously together, whaddaya gonna do about it?
Anyway. The broken foot has meant I haven’t been doing much any walking to speak of for the last couple of months, but I’m trying to get going again. I have to walk slowly and take shorter strides and constantly remind myself to PAY ATTENTION in order to avoid limping*, but I am beginning to gain back strength and flexibility and what could in the most clinical medical terms be described as oomph in my foot. (I can actually walk down stairs with both feet now, sometimes without hanging on to the rail—a triumph!)
I decided that trail walking is probably actually very good for the foot, as it forces all those little muscles to compensate for irregularities in the ground, so I’m trying to get out and do more of that. Hence these pictures from yesterday’s walk, which wandered along one of my favourite trails (one of the narrow ones) and lasted almost an hour. I didn’t cover a LOT of territory, but hey, it was quality.
Our Dog certainly thought so. He was delighted by the snow and as you can see it was hard to get him to hold still for a picture.
Well, maybe one.
* Who am I fooling? I limp.
Snow in the forecast
Snow is in the forecast for tonight, and then freezing rain, well, actually the forecasters are being a little vague. There’s precipitation coming into a cold front that’s been sitting over us, and then almost immediately it’s going to warm up, and who knows what will happen? seems to be the refrain.
I don’t have to drive anywhere tomorrow, so if it snows I’ll happily take pictures. But meanwhile, snow from a few days ago. These pictures of the slough on our property were taken early, before the sun had cleared the trees.
Things in snow, from a distance
It snowed a bit a few days ago, and it’s been steadily below zero, so the snow hasn’t melted. Normally this would mean great excitement for me, and I’d be out there crawling around taking closeup pictures of Stuff In Snow. But one disadvantage of a broken foot and crutches is that it pretty well eliminates most crawling around. Getting down wouldn’t be hard, but getting back up again could be a bit more problematic. And I don’t fancy crawling across a cold, snowy and rather wet yard. So instead I’m taking shots from a standing position—well, let’s call it an aggressive but well-propped lean.
Snow on stumps
The first snow of the season arrived last night—not very much, but with enough of a storm to knock out our power for five and a half hours—and then the sun poked its head through this afternoon, so I went out and took some pictures.
These little British soldier lichens look like a hopeless lot of recruits that got lost on maneuvers. Perhaps the sergeant is considering teaching them to build a snow cave.
Snow and rust
(And then of course I had to think of something that could cope with being next to orange slime.)
I like my rural(ish) life, and I like taking pictures of nature. When I’m in the city for extended periods I tend to panic: Oh no! What can I take a picture of?
But of course the truth is that there’s just as much to photograph, it’s just a bit different.
This is a bit of snow on a bit of iron garden sculpture. Rust and snow look good together, don’t they?
Ice and snow—please?
This year all the forecasts I heard in the fall said that it was going to be a cold winter, with lots of rain. Somehow that hasn’t panned out quite as expected. We’ve had much less rain than usual, and it hasn’t been very cold—December saw all kinds of records for the highest temperature ever.
Well, I have to confess that I like snow better than rain, even if it does require shovelling. I spent formative years in the Northwest Territories, where snow was snow, not this slushy nonsense that you get on the southern coast of BC. Snow is pretty, and bright, and it makes me feel good, especially when I’m skiing on it. However, on the south coast where what falls from the sky is generally heavy wet snow, it’s a pain in the butt to drive on—it tends to be supersaturated and compacts into what is essentially ice in no time at all. So in deference to all those drivers—including me—I don’t pray for snow. (Well, maybe just for a little, just a foot and a half, over the holidays, with the proviso that it disappears after 3 days.)
On the other hand, I do pray for frosty days that produce ice on puddles. They’re wonderful to take pictures of. But this year there hasn’t even been much frost, and my puddle-pictures haven’t had a lot of range. The one above is one of only a few I’ve been able to take. It’s been disappointing, and kind of unnerving. Winter! Ice is supposed to be on puddles. The lilies are NOT supposed to be sprouting already. Having weather so warm at the end of December/beginning of January that I’ve seriously considered taking off my fleecy and walking in shirt sleeves is Just Wrong.
I don’t like it. I’ll defer the snow to higher elevations, but I want my ice.
