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| Why we do not use the side door during the winter. |
Monday 2/10. It was a very bright morning even as the snow fell. I shoveled off the deck after lunch, then JB took a much-needed nap while I shoveled the pathways to give him a break. The sun finally chase the clouds away around 3:00 pm and quickly burned off the fog that tried to form, however the more the sun set into the west, the more quickly the fog crept up from the canyons.
All the February snow is still on the roof. It's going to be very loud when it finally slips off.
Each day during the winter seems to be much the same as the last, and I am sure it can be a bit boring to read about, but it is incredible to live. Words escape me as I try to describe how I feel about it. To wake up to our incredible views each morning and enjoy them throughout each day is a joy. Even when it is too foggy to see past the surrounding trees, it is still amazing. I love our small home, the result of so much work on our part. It really is a heaven on earth. The white of winter dims the memory of spring's colors, so each year it is a new wonder. And in February I am already thinking of spring.
The wind sprang up in the early evening and when Larry called us on the radio at 7:00 pm he told us it was snowing at their place. And, sure enough, it was snowing Up Here also. Snowing and blowing. We thought our high for the day had been 16, but when JB when outside to check the weather and temperature at 9:30 pm, as he does every night before we go to bed, it had warmed up to 22. It was still snowing and blowing, but the moon was shining through the cloud cover, making it very bright out.
We started watching the fourth season of Vampire Diaries this evening. Still addicted.
Tuesday 2/11. The wind blew all night, gusty not sustained. This morning was 24, clear and still very windy. We had about 2" of new snow, hard to tell with all the wind. The wind chill is negating the pleasure of normal temperatures, but we won't have to duck from snow bombs today. There is very little snow left on the trees. More snow is in the forecast for each day this week. It is as if all our winter precipitation will arrive all in one month. This month. February.
The snow is sculpted into soft lines. No sharp edges anywhere, just soft mounds and flat stretches. Two of our pathways are barely visible. And during the night some of the snow and ice on the south side of the roof had slid onto the ground. Slabs of ice a few inches thick. Lots more just waiting to roar down.
The wind stopped abruptly at about 10:00 am and suddenly it was so quiet. But shortly thereafter a rumble and then a roar announced an avalanche of snow and ice slipping off of the north side of the roof. This really causes Dinga to tremble, and she becomes our velcro dog. The roof kept on shedding most of the day until it was almost clear on both sides.
JB got out the snow shoes and the dogs and I took a short hike up to the south ridge, along the east slope and down to the north ridge. I had forgotten just how much of a workout the snow shoes give your hips. Even with them, I sank into the snow a bit because it is so powdery. The dogs tummies disappeared into the snow as they trudged through it. There was no evidence of yesterday's forays, having been erased in the newly sculpted landscape.
We needed to check and groom the road after all this, so JB and I rode in MAX and the dogs had a good run all the way down to our sign on the main canyon road. There wasn't much drifting, but the snow was deep in many places and MAX had to really work to get through. JB will be making daily trips for a while. Our high for the day was 30.
After arriving back home and enjoying a nice hot cup of cocoa, I baked some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Elsie had given me some home made peanut butter which I used. Oh my, they turned out so good! And began quickly disappearing. . .
I am working on a list of minimum amounts of food and supplies needed for winter. This winter I was much better prepared, but there are still a few items that we need a little more of and some a little less.
After dinner we finished watching the first season of Major Crimes. I like it just as much as The Closer. Sure hope it gets renewed.
Wednesday 2/12. The wind sprang up again about 4:00 am this morning, and when JB got up it was 31 and clear, with another 2-1/2" of snow. When I finally got up at 8:15 am, he had already been up to check out the panels, although the wind had taken are of cleaning them off. Then he cleared out a couple of the pathways. Sure hope the wind stops as early as it did yesterday.
Thought for the day: I never quite understand the way society decides who is beautiful and who is not. But an open face and a capacity for kindness always feel like reliable signifiers to me. Tilda Swinton
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