Winter on the Funny Farm

I'm not sure how these pictures inform what a winter this has been. We didn't get as much snow as Washington DC or even Pittsburgh. I can't seem to get photos of snow laden trees as the wind clears them too quickly. But you can see that the wind shaped our icicles so that they go south at the bottom and swirled snow up onto the covered deck where the firewood is stored. Some of the snow had to be shoveled because the plow was being serviced at the tractor dealer across the street when the first snow hit. It took Ken a few shots to learn how to use the plow but he has gotten much quicker with it. The day I tromped out to get the pictures of the field and treeline, the snow was at least 15 inches deep in places although there were places I got surprised by it being only 6 or 7 inches deep.

The plastic cup of ice has been sitting in the garage since Valentine's Day when we went to Mansfield to see Avatar. I guess when the ice in the cup changes its shape we'll know it's been above 32 degrees.

Snow

The first three pictures were taken weeks ago and show how much snow was on the ground before the blast of 12 or more inches on January 28. I love moody shots and the first very grey one shows the auction barn from way back near the pond. The woodpile isn't one we created; it's just sitting in the woods. And there is a shot from near the back of the pond towards the house that I liked a lot.

The same hill is in both of the other pictures and it is all shoveled snow. After we had shoveled three times during the day Wednesday, I couldn't even throw the snow that high. I had cleared most of the upper driveway into the ridge across from the big hill and Ken had done the long drive out to the street. At 5:30 I quit, seriously asked him to leave the garage apron until the next day, and fumed while he finished the job, which took until 7:30 (after dark). If there is a pill for being ridiculous (aka stupid), they need to pass it out before snowstorms.