February 9: Snowstorm

[neverspent]

The change I mentioned yesterday started around eight this morning: a steady fall of snow. Awfully pretty... and it kept it up for eight hours. Quite thick, moderate wind gusts. I looked up "snowstorm" and this event fit the rather loose criteria. We ended up with six inches here, which has been a wonder to me. It's higher than the tops of my snow boots, you have to lift your feet to walk in it, and it leaves deep holes where you step. It covers the grass and the sidewalks and the road so that you can't tell where one stops and the next starts. A broad road is suddenly a lumpy field. It's such an unexpected perceptual shift, taking a walk and being slightly disoriented about the usual boundaries. Exciting.

I took a long walk while it was still snowing and discovered that snow blows in your eyes, and what Bear Grylls says is true, you shouldn't get sweaty under your coat and then stay out in the wind. (Especially if you don't have a true winter coat.) Still, it was beautiful and I was thrilled to be cold, and when I came back around to where I had started, my old footprints were filled with fresh snow.

The birds didn't seem daunted, even when visibility was very low. A pair of house finches were especially loyal visitors to the birdfeeder, and somehow they looked even more handsome in the snow.


Sitting in the old tomato bush