Ice Station Zebra

What an absolutely beautiful and incredible day! The morning and afternoon brought sleet, wintry mix, snow and lots of wind. The total sum of all those yielded an additional noun to the scenario: blizzard.

I braved my way outdoors a few times this afternoon, taking photographs and playing with Deutsch and Scout. The only parts of me that got really cold were my fingers and thumbs. And I was wearing gloves.

Squidley shoveled the driveway maybe twice yesterday and several times today. So it looks pretty good. It is kinda slick, and he may put some salt on it.

There are seemingly duplicates of some of today's posted photographs; actually, the "duplicates" were taken later in the day and show more snow accumulation.

Looks like Sasquatch was here.

This is the view from our front porch.

This guy was one of our best buddies today.

The consistency of the snow made it strongly "cling" to the branches of the trees. That characteristic added an unmatched beauty to this snowfall.

Incredible how the snow can pile up on these delicate little branches!

This reminds me of soft serve ice cream.

I like how the snow sticks to vertical surfaces.

My Maine rocks are enjoying a bit of snow, too.

I made a chicken and dressing dish for dinner this evening.

Squidley made salads for us.

Our buddy from this afternoon made a return visit tonight.

It stopped snowing just before dark, and a little while later, we found a wonderful surprise in its place: a starry starry night. Despite the clearing, though, tonight's temp may possibly be as low as thirteen. Frigid air, and I'm not talking refrigerators.

We've really enjoyed the beauty of this snow. With snow everywhere and more falling and being blown around by the wind, the outdoors was for the most part colorless. When looking at the pictures I'd shot outdoors, I thought how they made it seem like I'd used a camera with black and white film.

We've had a full and very good day, and now we are ready to get some sleep.

Take care, everyone. And nighty night.