Design

The ravine below our small house in the mountains was covered with snow in the Christmas storm.  The most recent snow covered the ravine, too, but is now melting with warmer temperatures.  Snow-covered ravine My gardening companion just sent me this photo (finally) downloaded from 'his' camera, a small digital camera that we're now taking traveling, instead of my Nikon D100, an older digital workhorse.

Meadow pond surrounded by snow in the SC Botanical Garden A winter morning walk brought me by the Meadow Pond, which was lovely in the early light.  Campus is closed again today because of heavy snow and icy roads, but with AWD, the short trip to the Garden was uneventful.  The two killdeer flying around the meadow were a treat to see -- a sign of winter.  I saw flocks of killdeer last year at this time , but the meadows weren't covered with snow!

We've seen more snow this winter than we've seen for many years...and it's only January.

In the mountains for winter break, we were surprised with snow this morning. A matter of 2 degrees lower made the difference between the predicted rain and light fluffy snow. We had about 3 inches, lovely to walk through on a Sunday morning.  (Not so nice if we'd needed to get to work, though). The prediction is for more snow overnight, with temperatures dropping into the teens (F°), so Monday will possibly be icy as well as snowy. But the snow was fun for us.  It had been a long time since we'd seen this much snow. On our street Snow in the mountains A frosty forest

It seems as snowy as we've ever seen it here, with thick fluffy snow piled up. The snow draped over branches, leaves, and stems. The snow at the Garden was also pretty.

This evening the 'drumbeat' of the forecast materialized, and we've had several inches of fluffy, damp snow and it's still coming. This is most unusual for us -- we normally have nice winter days alternating with cold rainy days in February in the Upstate of South Carolina. But this year, with El Nino and altered wind patterns, has been entirely different. This evening's snow is wet, heavy, and slushy and will freeze overnight to a harder consistency, making the roads slippery, and keeping us folks unused to snow and ice inside and not venturing forth. The quietness has already descended. I'll need to go out briefly to post a cancellation notice for a program Saturday morning -- I've called all the registered participants, but there might be some northerly sort of person who might appear. But I guess I've lived in the Southern U.S. for long enough to share the aversion to snowy and icy travel. I'm only a mile away from campus, but I wouldn't ...

Up in the mountains for a NAI interpretation workshop, the unrealized (so far) threat of snow and ice has seemed like a warning drumbeat. Four to five inches of snow! freezing rain! howling winds! and blizzard warnings! have been part of the forecast the last few days. The predictions were dire enough to have my gardening companion (insist in his companionly way) that I go up early to get ahead of the weather (which was quite nice enough, as it turned out). And I'm delaying going 'down the hill' -- the Blue Ridge Escarpment - until the morning, when the sun is supposedly to be shining. Thankfully, only the winds have materialized with a dusting of snow this evening so far, although it's plenty cold with the wind chill down in the teens. The predicted blizzard seems to have gone north to inundate the mid-Atlantic states. In the South and the mid-Atlantic states of the U.S., we're not used to snow and ice at all, and this year's El Nino weather pattern seems to ...

In spite of my optimistic thoughts about planting peas in a couple of weeks, we're expecting snow and sleet overnight - a prospect that brings many folks rushing around getting supplies. I don't normally worry about it too much (we always have lots of provisions in the fridge and pantry), although maybe I need to have more water, batteries and candles. But I am inspired to think about being on Phu Quoc Island at winter break, in the far southern tip of Vietnam, which, for now, is a wonderful place to hang out on the beach, developed just enough to be idyllic. This is the beach in front of Mai House, an excellent place on Long Beach. We spent several relaxing days here.

A crocus was in flower this afternoon. It's one of the several crocuses by the front walk that come back every winter (I almost wrote spring!) These predate our gardening efforts and are an echo from someone long ago who thought to plant them there.

The snow fell until almost midnight, and we woke up to a thick blanket of snow.

Snow is a matter of delight and concern for those of us who live in warmer winter climates. Because we're so unused to snow, snow (or ice) days shut down schools, offices, and government buildings. Everyone stays home, hopefully warm, if the power is still on. But, we're all still delighted to see the beauty of the snow cloaking trees, softening the landscape, and creating an unfamiliar wintry scene. And, we dash out to enjoy snowballs, sliding down slopes on cardboard, and other winter delights. We've had lots of cold weather this winter, but no snow, so having large flakes pelting down late this afternoon and the prospects of 2-4 inches overnight was unexpected and fun to see, at least when you don't have to be traveling! There was an Eastern Towhee pair kicking up mulch, foraging for seeds near the front stone path, as the snow came down. I wish I'd gotten a clear photo of them, but the light was already too dim. The view from the porch was lovely, and a nice co...