snow and thunder and ice... oh my!

It might seem that I have a preoccupation with snow and weather... and perhaps I do. But that is only because having grown up in the desert, I haven't had the opportunity to live in such extreme weather (really hot and humid in the summer followed by winter that is freezing cold with snow and ice) and I find it fascinating.

Our latest storm began yesterday afternoon with rain and sleet which then turned to snow.

The snowflakes were big  and fluffy- they covered everything with a beautiful layer of snow. When the outside lights came on at dusk, they bathed the courtyard in a warm glow as the snow glistened on the trees. I could have sipped hot cocoa and watched the snow fall through the window for hours... but minutes were all the time I had.

Snow continued falling through the night and we had some thunder... or as the newspaper called it, "a thundersnow!"

Morning dawned bright and clear with a thick layer of snow covering the courtyard. Although it looked quite cold, I was comfortable on the balcony in just a long-sleeved shirt- no coat. We could hear water dripping as the snow melted and saw big chunks of snow fall from the trees as soon as their hold was loosened.

Richard worked from home this morning but it didn't take much to convince him to take a quick walk around the lake before he left for work. Although the snow was powdery, it was really heavy and many of the tree branches were bending almost to the breaking point. In fact, I heard on the news later in the day that this storm caused more damage (primarily due to downed power lines) than Snowmageddon did last winter. Strange, huh?

As the layer of snow on the branches melted, the water dripped down and refroze making hundreds of baby "snowsicles" hanging from the tree branches. Oh so pretty!

Although the overwhelming majority of trees dropped their leaves months ago, a few branches still stubbornly cling to dry, brown leaves. This ice-backed leaf caught my eye- and I thought about things (habits, sin,...) that I stubbornly hold on to even though it's long past time to let them go.

We stopped for a hot drink at the lakeside cafe before heading home. The parking lot was enclosed by a wall as tall as Richard of plowed snow. Today it looks white and fluffy- unfortunately, in a few days it will look gray and dirty.

We heard the honks before we saw the flocks of geese flying around. They seemed to be wandering aimlessly, perhaps displaced by the snow, causing us to wonder if they wished they had flown farther south for the winter- it's in the 70's in Miami!

Once home, we both went to work- Richard drove to the office and I made a snowman... which was no easy task since, as I mentioned, the snow was fine and powdery. After trying several different techniques to make three "snowballs" of varying sizes, I finally discovered the only way to do it was to pack the snow tightly in my hands, adding a bit more snow as I patted  it in place. Stacking  them one on top of the other was the next challenge and after a few failed attempts, I finally got them placed. Since I forgot to pick up some twigs on our walk (and the top of the parking garage is devoid of plant-life), I gave him pretzel stick arms and used a baby carrot for his nose and M&M's for his eyes. As you can guess, he's a "little person" measuring only about 18-inches in height. Oh- and note to self: next time don't use M&M's- they melted!