A Snowy Start To Spring!!

This tiny part of central Virginia has spent most of this winter in the doughnut hole, dodging snow storms off in all cardinal directions - last week alone, one storm hit west, south and east of here; but, not today. We didn't dodge this week's monster nor-easter.  Only very southeast Va. is going to miss this one and yes, the northeast is going to get hammered again - 4th big storm in March. And, who would have thought, what with February so warm and spring-like, that March would be the February we had missed out on.  It all makes more sense when you remember that there are only trends and vague guidelines when comes to planet Earth and NO hard fast rules...but one: there is nothing but change.  (or the groundhog knows more than we do...)
Today's snow is snowman building, snow ball throwing perfect; wet and fluffy all at once until scooped and then easily packed into a near solid mass for throwing or rolling; scoop and pack and throw almost in one motion and then exploding harmlessly back to flakes upon impact with most any solid object.  The sticky, clingy snow not easy on evergreens, all bent under the weight, the leaf-less hardwoods less concerned, likely even enjoying the frozen moisture plastered on all north facing surfaces just where the wind stuck it.  There are browns and hints of green in the forest still today but white, the reflection of all visible colors, dominates today, almost bright even with no hint of the sun or sky visible.  The snow is still falling here but with much less vigor, the heart of the storm moving away, yet as I've typed this, the 4" mark on the snow ruler is close to obscured; we're not done.

The photo shows a barbed wire fence in different focus, the normally invisible wire thickened and prominent looking into the field behind my forest.
It looks cold and nasty out there but don't believe your first thought; get out and play/wander/build/throw: It's a SNOW DAY, today on Earth!!!

And, how about a shot of the big brown snow dog.

Wind...and Debris

Calling Friday (and today) wild with regards to the wind would not truly describe the sounds and feeling of sustained gales and howling gusts. The atmosphere was alive and in complete charge of life  on the surface yesterday.  The building howls, the gusts bashing the trees into each other, a fall and winters worth of dead branches smacked loose and hurled to the damp ground.  There is fallen debris everywhere, everywhere; looking like the aftermath of a winter hurricane.
The low pressure mess that brought a damp, drizzly day on Thursday (but far below expected rain here) exploded into a powerhouse off the east coast and with the push of a huge high pressure dome in the central US created a pressure difference that can only mean extreme high winds; the perfect wind storm. And, while the northeast got wind and rain and snow we only got the wind, sunshine and wind - even a few hurricane force winds but lots of 40's and 50 mph gusts. Wary hiking.
Today the Low moved farther offshore, the High closer and while breezy wandering in the woods today the danger of being skewered was much reduced. Much more relaxing while swatting broken branches from the paths of my forest. But, with the sunshine and temps in the 50's it was hard to not enjoy wandering about, today on Earth.