poplar road

There. The snowy top of one hill across the river is rose. We may get a show after all. I'd go outside, but my short walk around our acre yesterday in the midst of the sunny afternoon made me realize why they have to warn us about frostbite when the temperature drops like this. It's so dry, and the cold is so instant the minute you walk out the door, that the tip of your nose goes numb before you think about it and you don't even feel that all your exposed skin is freezing. I came in after less than half an hour and my face was red as a tomato between scarf and toque. Mind you, the wind was blowing. I wanted to see what the wind had done. November is a month of frequent windstorms here, but usually not accompanied by 20 inches of snow. The drifts are above my knees in places you wouldn't expect. The barn, for instance, faces south into the wind. I expected to find snow piled up to its edges, but instead the drift settled two feet in front of the south wall, with a swirling pattern and sharp ridge, and between the peak of the drift and the wall, the tips of the grass are showing.

Behind the well shed (where the heat is on to keep our pipes to the house from freezing) the north side is another strange drift, with a similar furrow a foot wide showing grass. But the best image of the wind in the snow was among the tall weedstalks behind the barn. I so desperately wanted a photo of this I could have cried. (I probably looked like I was crying, the cold by then making my eyes water endlessly.)

One of the weeds was broken about three inches above the ground, so its twiggy top bent down to just touch the surface of the snow. Somehow the wind had spun it like a compass, creating a beautiful series of rings in the snow around the stalk. And then yesterday's calmer, chillier weather set it crisp and clear until I came upon it like a miniature crop circle.

It's 8am and the sky is edging toward blue, but still flat and pale compared to the cobalt blue skys after a January snowstorm. If it weren't for the snow and frost it would be gloomy. With another storm on the way, I guess the sun has no strength for cracking ice. Instead the highway traffic has picked up, and now the smoke is rising from my neighbour's yard. Time to get the work day started, I guess. If I can take my eyes off the pines, and the snow clinging to my blue spruce, and the way the deer prints careen all over the yard. The next snowfall is expected this afternoon, though, so I have a lot of work to finish and rush to the post office with before the roads get messy again. And then I can sit back and enjoy the falling snow.

I hope you all drive safe and stay warm in this cold snap, and enjoy the natural beauty of this time of year. I, for one, am looking forward to the holidays, with hopefully less cold, and as much snow.