Snow Is Heavy

It only seems light, when it's floating in the air, or swirling about your head.

There are now two more-or-less parallel grooves in the snow on the driveway, suitable for tires. The part in front of the garage is more challenging -- we have to do variations on the 3-point-turn to get in and out and I haven't figured out all the angles yet -- so I've hacked a bit away at it, but will need to eat and rest before I go after it some more. (Good thing tomorrow is a weekend!) I'm proud that I got as much done as I did.

Now the snow is turning lovely firey and golden shades as it picks up the light from the setting sun. The neighborhood bird flock is at the feeder on the front porch, the sparrows swarming the perching shelf, bouncing on tree limbs, hopping and pecking in the snow on the railing for spilled seeds. A junco is back-kicking the snow, doing the same. The female cardinal sits demurely to the side, billing a sunflower seed in her red-orange beak. I bought suet at the hardware store when I purchased the shovel; I will have to hang it out for them tomorrow.

The squirrels are huge and puffy and leave great tracks in the snow. One stared at me when I was washing dishes; another was screaming alerts in chorus with the trio of bluejays when I wandered into the backyard -- at me, or at a hidden cat? I'm sure they would like the suet too, but I seem to recall that the suet cage's grill is too narrow for squirrel muzzles. We'll see. They've been polite about the feeder; I don't begrudge them some suet.

Comments

[donna]

My cat has an insanely fluffy coat this year - and I'm in San Diego!

I'm worried for the east coasters...

[Rana]

Yeah, me too. We got a lot of snow, but I can't imagine what those storms are going to do once they hit the Atlantic and the Appalachians.

[jo(e)]

Snow is heavy, but it's beautiful, isn't it?

[Toast]

We got about 8 inches where I live, just north-east of Hartford, CT. Now, thing is, it looked like it would be the easy-shoveling snow, nice and light and fluffy. Instead, the temp came up just enough to start it melting. By the time I went out to shovel, it was the most dreaded snow of all: The kind that's just wet enough to stick to the shovel, but not heavy enough for the momentum of the swing to dislodge it, so that with each toss you feel like you might tear your forearm right out of your elbow joint. I so do not like that.

Still, the Inaugural Shoveling of our new house's driveway only took about an hour, so not too bad.

[Rana]

Yes, it is beautiful. It scares the pants off me when I have to drive through it, but I do like seeing the animal tracks in the snow each morning. How else would I learn that one of the neighborhood cats has been hiding under the porch?

Only an hour? Wow, I'm impressed -- especially with forearm-rending snow and all! :)

[demetri]

Do your squirrels have white tufts behind their ears?

[Rana]

Nope. They're reddish on top, greyish underneath.