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Friday, February 3, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
22 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
After a showstopping sunrise, we find that the show must
indeed go on,
and although the frozen snow will be challenging, we have
put together an
impromptu ski outing for later in the day. By then the
sun may have worked
its magic and softened the snow up a bit, or a few more
flurries could show up.
When among friends, any activity becomes close to perfect,
even if there are flaws,
like bulletproof ice. Some of my most memorable ski trips
have been in the driving rain,
or in fierce snow and wind, but when shared with friends
these experiences become sweet
reminiscences rather than horror stories. At any rate, it
is a gorgeous day for anything outdoors
or in, and the upcoming week is predicted to be sunny and
seasonal. The biggest chance of snow
is for tonight and tomorrow morning, bringing us just
about an inch to make the gliding a little less
noisy. Our back yard is teeming with birds this morning,
with the bluejays taking the attendance
award. There must be at least fifteen of them pecking at
the bare spots in the garden. A few
starlings have abandoned their high perch to join the
jays; there must be something mighty
tasty out there to draw such a crowd. A hairy woodpecker
is beating his head against
the big maple by the barn, and several crows sit in the
sister tree on the other side of
the driveway. The usual herd of deer has just crossed the
road; it seems that every
day they pick up one more member, and now there are at
least a dozen milling
around in the willow copse by the neighbor’s
driveway. And now,
a batch of dark chocolate brownies is in the near future,
I think.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, February 2, 2012, 8:00 a.m.
20 degrees, calm, overcast, snow
We didn’t get the snow that was forecast for last
night, and I was sitting here wishing for
just a smidgeon of powder to sit atop the frozen slush
leftover after yesterday’s rainfall. A few
small flakes started to appear, then more, and now it is
snowing pretty good. The Nexrad radar map
shows a little circle of clouds directly over Turin and
nowhere else in our part of the state. Magic! A little
chance of snow tomorrow and Saturday lend hope that
backcountry skiing will be excellent for the weekend,
yet there may not be enough snowpack for snowmobiling,
which would mean we could ski without the added
anticipation of being flattened by a sled. Most trails
are either closed or listed as marginal and icy. If this
little
flurry amounts to as little as an inch of fresh snow, we
will be able to ski just about anywhere we like. Yester-
day we went to Rome and found springtime conditions in
that fair city. I felt overdressed in my winter coat,
but by the time we arrived back home the air had cooled
off considerably. I don’t know if Punxsutawney
Phil has seen his shadow this morning, but up here, in
order for us to have six more weeks of winter,
we would have to have had some winter to start
with. For now, I am happy that snow
continues to fall, and the bare patches are starting to
fill in a little.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 8:00 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy, drizzle
After a night of fairly constant rain, bare spots have
opened up in the fields and the berms
along the pavement as well as the Smith Road are all a
soft muddy mess. The trees, which had
been festooned so prettily with white snowy banners and
drapes, are now shiny and starkly bare. If
we are lucky, as the day wears on and temperatures begin
to drop into a more seasonal range, some snow
will arrive to put a skiable layer atop the slush which
will likely freeze into unfriendly boilerplate. Both
alpine
and nordic skiing will be very nice today until it cools
off; there is still plenty of base, especially in the
woods.
Snow Ridge will have some excellent spring conditions
today, and the slopes should be great for the weekend
after they churn them up a bit with the groomer.
Yesterday we walked up the Smith Road, but there were so
many snowmobiles that we turned around after a half mile
and went up the plowed road instead. I believe I
saw more snowmobiles yesterday afternoon than I have all
winter so far... on a Tuesday! What’s up with
that? I expect that kind of nonstop steady traffic on a
normal weekend day, but for midweek it was very
unusual. This mild and crazy winter has been very good
for our local wildlife. Every time the snow disap-
pears there are deer and turkeys in droves on every bare
patch of meadow, ripping at roots and rhizomes
that have been revealed. I’ll bet a fair amount of
tasty worms and grubs surface at every thaw as well.
Skunks
have been out and about with more than the usual number
squashed by the side of the highway and plenty of
tracks around our house and barn. The polecat that had
sheltered under our porch for the night has moved
on, I am happy to say, with that trail leading away into
the hedgerow. I can’t help but think that Old
Man Winter has an ace up his sleeve, and soon there will
be a really good snowstorm,
one for the record books. Some of our best snowfalls have
been in February, so
there is still hope for at least a few weeks of great
rain-free wintry goodness.
Have a great day,
Daisy
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