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Weather talk...

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Snow brings a lot of light deep into the house, as it reflects off the surface - brightening the short days, indoors, even deep into corners.

I love the quiet that snow brings - it muffles all sound, both as it falls & after, while it blankets the ground. It's peaceful.
It moderates temperatures & limits extremes of cold or sudden spikes of warmth - the ambient temp is more consistent, with snow falling or lying.
In the woods, it's a blank sheet for tracks - finding wildlife or understanding their activities is so much easier, with snow down.

Deep snow & snowshoes are a wonderful way to explore the outdoors AND to see wildlife, as U are much quieter [if U avoid nylon clothing & ripping velcro] & can pass or approach wildlife so much less noisily. U can see things U'd never see, during an open winter or any other season, with deep snow as a silencer. Footsteps, twigs underfoot, dry leaves, are all hushed.
I love the smell of snow, the crunch of crust after a few days, the swish or squeak under my boots, the feel of it when i lie on it - deep snow is like a massive quilt, U float on it; thin snow is cool & soft.

I like to make snow ice-cream, scooping a bowlful from below the surface, sprinkling vanilla & sugar on it.
I love walking in it, as it falls, or seeing the changes after it's fallen, the softened lines of limbs on trees, icicles glittering on gutters & roof edges, the city streets suddenly white & clean. I like feeling it brush my face, or catch on my eyelashes, or seeing powder whirl in a gust of wind & sparkle like bits of glass.

In my childhood, i loved being snowed-in on the farm, just us & the animals - going into the warm barn, feeding the sheep, currying my pony, feeding the poultry who wouldn't go out in deep snow, but perched or waddled in the straw indoors; watching my pony run thru belly-deep snow, sledding, my dog sleeping curled-up under the snow rather than exposed on the cold porch, my mare eating fresh snow, my colt - a black bay - wearing a 2-inch thick layer of snow overnight like a blanket; no passing traffic, no school, the world reduced to walking where we wanted to go, & doing only home things.
Eating the brandied peaches we'd put up in August, with the bright blue-white light of snow illuminating the kitchen; snow clear to the deep windowsill in the back yard, the bird-feeders busy with constant come & go, the buzzing tseep of titmice, peep of chickadees, cardinals a shout of lipstick-red or blue-jays as bright as opals against the white.

We were often snowed-in, usually once or twice each winter on our dirt road; it wasn't paved until i was in college, & plowing it was low on the township priority list. Hearing no cars for days on end was wonderful - U don't notice such common noise until it's gone.
My favorite season came with the snows of late winter - lambing. Getting dressed under my blankets, after the sheep woke me, fussing - going out into stunning cold & blue-black night, walking to the barn with the dog, seeing the new baby or twins, making sure mom was up & they were nursing, finding a ewe or ram lamb, seeing new babies with their own special markings in our crossbred flock - then walking back to the house, & a warm bed.

Snow insulates plants from the cold dry air of winter; it melts slowly & recharges the groundwater. It feeds the spring streams & new grass. Seen up close, every snowflake is a work of art, but in drifts, it's the poor man's fertilizer.

- terry

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When is is it going to warm up? Supposed to be 7 degrees when I to the dog for a walk, with the gale on the river it felt like -3. I'll know that Spring has truly arrived when my nose doesn't constantly run on the walk and I don't have to dress up like an Eskimo. I really want to go to the local park and sit Eddi at the edge of it out of his trigger zone to get him used to people and dogs, not going in this horrible cold. I think it's getting cold again at Easter. I wanna go to the sun.
 
When is is it going to warm up? Supposed to be 7 degrees when I to the dog for a walk, with the gale on the river it felt like -3. I'll know that Spring has truly arrived when my nose doesn't constantly run on the walk and I don't have to dress up like an Eskimo. I really want to go to the local park and sit Eddi at the edge of it out of his trigger zone to get him used to people and dogs, not going in this horrible cold. I think it's getting cold again at Easter. I wanna go to the sun.
Same here. Fed up with this cold, damp weather :(
 
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