Blowing Snow

They finally got the forecast right. The rain turned to snow sometime during the night, and the wind is howling and blowing snow today. I spent the day doing chores and bringing wood inside to dry and stoking the wood stove. It is not real cold yet, but the howling wind sure makes me shiver. I don't know what the wind chill is, but my hands and feet froze while I was feeding the dogs. The gates into the dogyard were frozen shut, but I managed to chip them free. That is the trouble with rain that turns to snow. I much prefer cold, dry snow; it is easier to deal with. This time of year is the transition period, though, and I should have remembered that. We did not have much of this sort of thing in Three Forks.

I chickened out of running the dogs today. The cold, blowing snow was just too much for me. I will get my nerve up by tomorrow, which is supposed to be windy and snowing as well. I did manage to visit all my new trees. Many of them were flattened by the heavy snow and wind, so I pulled them all upright and did my best to pack snow around the trunks to hold them straight. I expect I'll have to do it again tomorrow. Once the snow is deep enought to cover them, I will be able to forget about them until spring.