Heading into March... more snow

More snow.  Weatherunderground predicted one inch Saturday night, one inch today and one inch tonight.  We'd had more then 3 inches by 6:30 a.m. today.  And it has been snowing all day.  Not heavy snow most of the time, but pretty steady.  In fact, this afternoon it seems to be sliding into a sleet-ish icy mix.

Birds are back at the feeders.  The Dark-eyed Juncos didn't seem to care for the safflower seed hearts, and I realized later that they are "recommended" for Juncos.  In fact, I had intended to buy sunflower seed heart and mis-read the bag.  Later I did buy sunflower seed hearts and they are eating those (which have also attracted a small gang of Mourning Doves), but the Juncos still seem to prefer the general mix.  We put up another feeder at the other end of the garage and I filled it with that seed (which actually isn't as expensive as sunflower seed hearts).  Here's the new feeder with a cap of snow and two hungry Juncos:

I had also sprinkled some of the seed they like on the snow on and around our back deck and, lo and behold, the Juncos have ventured onto the porch to search out the seeds.  Here's a little guy (gal?) perched on the pile of snow just outside the deck railings.

I'm wondering how long the snow will continue.  More shoveling tomorrow morning I guess.

Well, I'm going to hunker down with a book, a blanket and some tea.  David's making split pea soup for dinner.  We have some sourdough bread left over from a night or so ago.  Mmmm.  Good snowy weather food.

Peace.

Post-Nemo, a visit from Sam

Postponing his trip driving up from Atlanta only a day due to the blizzard, Sam arrived on Monday early evening.  Our first overnight visitor.  He had a pretty precarious drive up Route 1 as it was raining and sleeting, with one car hydroplaning toward him and managing (thank you, Mr. Other Drive) to drive into a snowbank instead of Sam.  So Sam arrived safely.

We had a great visit.  On Tuesday morning we set about fulfilling Sam's promise to his son/my grandson - to build a snowman and take photos.  Here they are together - man and his creation (or man and his creator):

And a close-up of the creation (dig the Oreo eyes):

On Tuesday afternoon, Sam, David and I walked along the coast to downtown Rockland, walked around a bit, had coffee and walked back home.  Here's a photo Sam snapped outside the Strand theatre of the three of us:

A good visit.  Now Sam's in Boston getting ready for a showing tonight of a new film written and directed by a talented college friend of his and edited by Sam, "Knockaround Kids."  Keep your eyes open for it in the months ahead, coming to film festivals near you, and hopefully to independent theatre releases at some point.

Now back in Rockland we are dealing with warming days reaching low 40's and colder nights going down below freezing.  This means that the piles of snow are melting - a good thing - and the resulting puddles of water are freezing overnight, causing sidewalks, driveways, and roads to create abundant black ice, a deadly slippery sucker of a surface (as witnessed by the metal plate and screws holding my right wrist together) - not a good thing.  So far the rubber clamp-on "cleats" I bought last year from LL Bean and faithfully attach to my boots every morning are doing their job.  I have remained upright.  Knock on wood.

As far as the wider world, what's up with the asteroids and meteors crashing into this planet?  Has anyone yet suggested it's a government conspiracy to attack the Russians?  Or vice versa?  Or maybe it's aliens, finally noticing we're here.  Or perhaps the photos are all fake and it hasn't really happened.  Don't know.

Doesn't matter, but I hope damage is minimal, and injuries minor.  And under the threat of asteroid attacks, we can unite for peace, for justice, for environmental restoration, for an end to hunger, poverty.

I'll settle in the short run for peace, but keep the rest in mind.

Peace.

Nemo ... the morning after

The sun is shining.  With all the snow, it is incredibly bright.  Cold.  David decided to shovel our driveway last night, feeling that with passing time the drifting snow would harden and be harder to move.  I joined him after an hour or so and we managed to clear the 4-5 foot drifts behind my truck so we can get to the road.  Of course, David's car began being mostly buried and there was no where to put the snow we shoveled except behind his car.  So...

I was able to take Ella for our regular walk this morning down to the coast.  It was interesting to me to see that the harbor waters have ice.  If the water has iced up before, I didn't realize it.  Perhaps because we went out a little later than usual this morning (not sure the exact time, perhaps 6:45 - the sun was above the horizon), there was more light than usual.  Anyway, here's a photo I took:

I also took a photo of a house down near the shore that shows how the drifting show reached up mid-way on the front door.  I empathize with the morning of shoveling they have in front of them (oh, they probably hire someone to do it for them!)

Finally on the way home, I took this last photo.  The people in this house have had a couple of small snow blowers for sale for some time, apparently without takers, as can be seen in this shot:

I'm on my way out to help David with a little more shoveling.  He wants to widen the shoveled area at the end of the driveway to make turning in and out to/from the street easier (right now there are 7-8 foot banks of snow blocking the view and the shoveled area is very narrow, like a long tunnel).  I am going to shovel a narrow path from the shoveled driveway through the huge pile of snow that accumulated from our shoveling to let the fuel oil delivery man get to the pipes on the side of the house for the next fuel oil delivery.  We just had a delivery, so we shouldn't need one for another month.  But if these huge piles of snow freeze in the rain and sleet that they are predicting this week, they will be impossible to shovel.

I hope all are safe and warm, and those who lost power see it restored very soon.

Peace.

Nemo ... going on 3:00 p.m.

Snow fell all morning.  The wind blew, small wind funnels catching in the space between our house and the garage, between the cars, a whirling dervish on the small deck by the back door.  Above is the view out the kitchen window looking out at the back yard around noon.

From the side kitchen window about the same time.

More snow.  We opened the back door and shoveled the small back deck so we can get out of the house that way if need be.  I restocked the bird feeder that hangs at the far corner of the garage (hidden in the photos here because it has been blown to the back of the garage by the wind.)  Today I've seen an American Goldfinch at the thistle sock, a Black Capped Chickadee at the suet and the thistle sock, my regular visitors, the Dark Eyed Juncos, on the ground below the feeder I restocked (and probably on the feeder, but I can't see them from the house), a Northern Cardinal feeding on the seed I spilled when I restocked the feeder, some sort of Sparrow - perhaps a Field Sparrow - also feeding on spilt seed.  The most amazing was the American Goldfinch, clinging to the thistle sock as the wind whipped it around and around, feeding the whole time. Gutsy little fellow.  Here's a picture I took when the Goldfinch took a break and landed in the bare branches of the honeysuckle vine that twine across the kitchen window.  He rested out of the wind a moment, and then went back to the thistle.

David made fish chowder for dinner and we had some for lunch.  More snow.  Snow creeping up toward the windows on the west side of the house.

The east side of the house has a strip of almost bare grass.  Our neighbor's car next door on that side is almost buried, and apparently blocking the snow from that side of our house.   I took Ella out to that strip of ground so she could do her business.  Pee was all she wanted to do and then she pulled for the door.

David's car back on the west side of the house:

The small back deck is filling up with snow again,  David had cleared it and the last time I looked the snow was back to about 6 or 7 inches.

The wind is still blowing, the snow is still falling, but cars are now out and about from time to time, going down our street faster than I would recommend.  The corner store and gas station's lights are out.  Not open I guess.  I'd estimate we have 4 to 6 feet of snow in drifts on our driveway.  Tomorrow ought to be an interesting day.

3:04 p.m.  Snow.  Wind.

Peace, peace, far and near.

Nemo - what kind of name is that for a blizzard?

Morning ... the snow continues ...  during the night, the wind howled.  I don't mean that metaphorically.          The snow is dry and powdery and blows around easily, drifting into weird banks and troughs.  David's car is buried in drifts.  My car, next to it, has no snow on it.  Here's the view out of my back door that opens on the little deck, showing my "clean" car in the background.  You can't actually see it, but David's car is under that pile of snow behind the railing of the deck:

And here's what it looks like when I opened the back door: - that darkness at the bottom of the opening is 25-30 inches of snow drift:

Rather than tackle the drifting snow out the back door shown above, I took Ella out this morning through the front door, which we generally don't use.  But the wind seems to have kept the front stoop more or less clear of snow.  Of course, when we stepped off the stoop, the snow was up to my mid-thigh.  And Ella was over her head, almost.  We ended up slogging back right next to the house, where the wind had blown away most of the snow.  The wind had cleared a small patch of ground about 5 by 8 feet around the base of a small tree at the corner of the house.  We made it there and Ella was able to pee.  Then she wanted to come back inside.   Ella, who loves snow!

Here's the view from the front door:

That's a telephone pole with snow drifting up about 4 feet on it.

And it is supposed to keep snowing all day until 5:00 p.m.  David's going to make fish chowder.  As long as we keep our power, we'll be fine - although Ella may go a little stir crazy.  There's no point in shoveling as long as the snow is falling and the wind blowing.

More later.  Meanwhile, I hope all in the path of the storm are safe, warm, with good books and friends and family around them.

Peace.

Waiting for the blizzard...

Winter is back, with a vengeance.  There are all kinds of predictions about the coming storm being "historic" with references to the blizzard of 1978.  I think I was living in Atlanta in 1978 and missed the  storm of the century entirely.  At any rate, the specific snow fall predictions for Rockland have varied from 12 to 28 inches.  As of 8:00 a.m., they appear to be settling in at around 24 inches total.

There were supposed to be "snow flurries" this morning, but we have had a couple of inches so far.  Here's what the backyard looks like now:

I called and told Harbor Hounds that Ella would not be coming in today.  The owner seemed grateful.  The local TV weather is now saying there is a "northern trough" developing - apparently the cause of this locally heavy snow that wasn't expected - between the two other storm centers that are coming together to create the "super" storm cell.  This "trough" is supposed to last until 1:00 p.m., at which point the two big storms will meet and presumably squeeze the little trough out of existence.

On Route 295 there was a 19 car pile up and the highway is entirely shut down around Falmouth.  Speed limit on the highway is down to 45.  Slipping and sliding cars.

2400 flights cancelled across NY, CT, MA, etc.  Trains in Maine all shut down.

And we're just getting started.

I went outside this morning and refilled the bird feeder which is pretty much the property of a small flock - 5 or 6 birds - of Dark Eyed Juncos.

 I figured it would be hard to find food in a blizzard.  Sure enough, several showed up.  Here's a blurry photo of a hungry Junco taken through the snow:

Stay safe.  Stay warm.  More later.  Peace.