These past 5 years have set a trend.
Winter not arriving until Spring.
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As Grant set off to see a neighbour, I went out to assess the latest conditions.
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This storm was not vicious or particularly dramatic.
It was not characterised by a howling wind.
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But it was long, with changing faces.
Friday night we received a significant snowfall.
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Then as Saturday progressed, snow turned to sleet, to mizzle.
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As I took these images, the temperature was dropping.
Precipitation set in once more in the form of freezing rain which turned instantly to ice.
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This was a new sort of spectacle.
I’ve seen many ice storms but never anything quite like this.
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How does one capture such a sight?
There were so many surfaces.
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Hailstones bouncing off my head were no problem and if I lost my footing, my fall would be well cushioned by deep snow.
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The difficulty was in focussing and manipulating the camera with frozen fingers.
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It feels like an excuse, but I have vision problems which make processing busy images a challenge.
These were certainly busy.
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Gusts of wind didn’t exactly help.
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As I stood under this pine taking in the sight, I heard an ominous crack somewhere up in the woods nearby.
Perhaps standing under a tree in this condition was not such a good idea.
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It’s unlikely I’ll meet my end beneath a falling tree though perhaps one should not tempt fate.
Trudging around the house I saw that hail had now turned back to snow.
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Bushes were thick with ice.
Back indoors I discovered that we had lost electricity.
The greater surprise was that power was restored in less than half an hour.
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As the snow deepened I noticed starlings had taken control of the wheelbarrow where I had dropped a scattering of nuts.
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Only hours before, Grant had cleared the patio but there was a squirrel digging again.
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With a fine forecast, Sunday promised to be visually interesting.
Upon rising I saw a lone deer searching for a morsel of food. But I think birds had got to it first.
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I have never experienced an ice-storm, but a friend who used to live in Canada sent me photos of one once. They were enough. I cannot remember on this Sunday evening, but do you have a generator to use to cope with power outages? I seem to think you do, but could be wrong.
Late snow is a hard time for the animals and birds. But they can usually rely on you.
Best wishes, Pete. x
Yes, we have a generator. We need it for water as much as for heat but in 5+ years we have seldom used it. Still Grant makes sure it starts periodically. We put corn out as well as bird seed. We can’t feed them all , sadly. I think the groundhogs will stay in their burrows till some of the snow disappears. This afternoon is brilliany and warm but the snow pile is large!
It is so sad to see the wildlife suffering, and even some perishing! The only hope is you, Carolyn, and
giving them at least seeds to help to them all!
Joanna
Despite the difficulties you got some great photos. We used to get a lot of freezing rain in Germany which instantly overloaded trees and plants and created ice rinks on the roads and pavements. Very dangerous, and very painful on exposed faces!
Amazing photo’s. I feel very cold…
Wow, these are amazing photos Carolyn! I wouldn’t mind walking around outside with you to observe this spectacle (even though I probably would have frozen from the cold). I wonder if the animals also know it’s actually supposed to be Spring and that they might be surprised by how this season starts.