A SNOWY DAY!

The morning of January 30th, 2010 looked like just any other day when I got up at 6. The roof of the barn looked like it had a good coating of frost, nothing more, as the ground was clear. It is still dark here at 6 AM this time of year here. So I turned the spot light on - and what do you know! There were little fine snow flakes coming down. So, I went about my usual morning business. I usually have a ton of computer work to do on Sat morning, but this Sat there was even more than usual, as I had been in a class for Planning Commissioners for 2 days and had not been home to get anything done. And, I confess, I was too tired after class to do more than eat dinner, take a shower, and stumble into bed. So, I turned the old DELL on, went back into my bathroom to get dressed, fixed a cup of tea, got on line, and started to play catch-up. I had a week's worth of emails to answer. I glanced at the amusing ones, saved the tough for later - my post-Starbucks mail, as it were... and tried to get some work done and get my Sunday Musings started - something I usually have nearly done by Sat morning. The morning began to get a bit lighter... no, the sun never showed its face... The official 8 AM measurement for CoCoRaHS was 1/2 an inch. WBOC called a little before 8 and asked me if the snow had started, how much we had, and if I was willing to go on the air in a few minutes. By 9:30, we were a bit oven an inch. 11:30 had us over 2 inches, and by the time of the 1:30 broadcast (WBOC) we had 5 inches in the open areas, but drifts around Anna's van were half way to my knees. The birds were hungry, so it was a great opportunity to get pics of the cardinals. Here is Mr Cardinal in the camellia out front, and again at a feeder. See Mrs Cardinal in the camellia?

It was kinda cool doing live broadcasts from my yard for the Salisbury TV station. The first time I did that for them was during a hurricane and my BIG walnut tree out front blew over right on schedule. I caught the words "Oh $hit!" just before they came out of my mouth as I was standing only about 30 feet away from the tree. Today's broadcasts were much more uneventful, thank goodness!

AT 7 inches... plus...the van an hour after we cleaned it off... a barn in the snow... the camellia, Aunt Alice, Buddha 1, Buddha 2 (up to his chin in snow almost! Gonna have to wade out there again before dark.) (these Buddhas are 2 feet high) And St Francis standing next to the birdbath! Didja ever wonder where the kitty goes when he has to, um, go? And the snow is higher than his, um, water pistol? Well, I shoveled a path for him, but he did not want to come out to use it, so he ducked into this little shelter. As I type this, there are 4 male cardinals out the window argueing about feeder rights. And the snow still comes down... Some parts of the yard are over 9 inches now... and the temps are dropping. It is now down to 20 at 3:30 in the afternoon.