Who tinkered with the thermostat?

Friday and Saturday were blustery days full of stiff wind and lots of blowing snow, the kind of blowing snow that wreaks havoc with airline flights and deposits impassable drifts across roads and between buildings. That's always bad news for those with travel plans...or groceries on the way...or hopes of getting mail.

On the other hand, it's good news for kids of all ages who will play for days and days in those nice, deep, wintry troves of frozen fun. It's also good for those of us (who are not waiting for groceries or mail) who adore the look and feel of fresh layers of snow.

After two full days of the blustery stuff, I opened the door Sunday morning and was greeted by a wall of about four feet of snow precariously balancing on the rail around my porch (these photos were taken the next day after I'd cleared the steps and the piles had settled some).





I was also greeted by an even thicker wall of warm, moist air. Warm, moist air? Was this...June? July? August? Okay, it wasn't straight-out-of-the-shower moisture or steam bath mugginess, but 28 degrees above zero feels like a whole different season compared to -10F or even -30F!

Kids all over town spent most of Sunday building snow structures and sledding. The whine of snow machines began around 9am and still haven't ceased. Weather like this is perfect for long snow machine rides on the tundra. There is always a race to see who will be the first to tackle those powdery fresh drifts or break the trail.



The warm reprieve inspired quiet walks as well, a pleasure usually reserved for summer.



Yet, as I write, temperatures are already dropping. I suspect the air is drying too. Sub-zero will be the norm again. Then all this beautiful, silent fluff will revert back to its former state as a styrofoamy solid, squeaking with every step, making quiet walks a physical impossibility.