Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Winter has come

For days now a big old hairy Alberta Clipper has been working its way down from the plains of Canada, heading for the relatively warm Great Lakes where it's known to pull moisture up into the clouds, travel to the Midwest snow belts, and unceremoniously dump it in the form of snow on the poor helpless folks who, every winter, still choose to live there.


We watched the news of the Clipper with a sort of bemused but detached interest, because, historically speaking, those Lake Effect snows coming across the lakes never, NEVER affect us over here. For us to get that kind of snow, it would take a big wind sweeping up from the South, pulling warm moisture from Lake Huron, creating snow in a cloud, and then dumping it on us.

So last night we weren't worried at all about the prospect of a lot of snow for us. It just doesn't happen that often, and especially not this early in the season. But this morning the winds shifted to the Southwest and by mid-day, to our surprise, billions and billions of great lacy flakes were floating out of the sky and sticking wherever they landed. We couldn't shovel it away fast enough. By nightfall we had a good eight inches on the ground and more in the drifts.



The first snow is always exciting. It's a Photo-Op I can never resist, even though snowfall pictures, now numbering in the many hundreds, all look pretty much the same from year to year.



Yesterday the winds were kind and it was actually pretty pleasant shoveling and pushing that snow around, even in 28 degree temps. I had to stop and stick out my tongue to collect snow flakes, of course. All kids do that when it snows.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful blankets of snow! It's nice to see your part of Michigan.

    P.S. I'm having a giveaway on my log blog!

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  2. Shelley is giving away a loaf of Zingerman's famous cranberry pecan bread--can you imagine?

    All you have to do is go to her website http://logcabininmichigan.blogspot.com/
    and leave a comment on her post about the contest.
    And while you're there, check out her other posts, too. She takes great pictures and has a whole lot of interesting things to talk about.
    (But don't enter the contest or I won't have a chance to win. Just kidding!)

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  3. I have to chuckle at your comment about having so many pics of snowfalls,.. oh yes, I do that do. Because, I guess, i see such beauty in nature and all "her" moods. Same for sunsets, sunrises, flowers, etc. I totally understand. I think we aren't long before there will be snow on ground here, too. I get 4 new tires next Wed. hope it waits until after that!

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  4. Cedar, I love your pictures on your blog. http://adirondackview.blogspot.com/

    The snow-covered mountains are gorgeous, but the white tailed deer in the frosty field are really something special.

    Yes, there is such splendid beauty in the places we live. Thank God for cameras!

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  5. Why did it take me so long to find you??? I need to spend some time over here at your beautiful blog. I'll check out your website too. Thanks for stopping by my blog, I'm adding you to my blogroll

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  6. Thanks for the kind words, Denise. I've added you to my blog list, too. This is what I mean by "community"!

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  7. Well I won't mind looking at your hundreds of photos of snow.

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  8. Thanks for looking in, Darla. But be careful what you ask for! I have almost as many snow pictures as I have sunrises and sunsets. . .

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  9. Lovely blog and photos! I found you through Denise's blog - very happy to have found it, too! :)

    I'm crossing my fingers for some snow here in Massachusetts, either tonight or tomorrow. It's forecast, but unfortunately we've just been seeing rain showers. Hardly appropriate at this time of year!

    Have a happy holiday tomorrow. :)

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  10. Welcome, Alex and Alicia--happy to have you here. We're getting clobbered again, though not as bad as the middle of the state. Hope you got your wish for snow!

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