Gang Aft Agley

And the rain and snow continues. I went to a parents meeting at the school tonight, while there we saw a flash of lightning, and the rumble of thunder. That in itself was odd, as we don’t often get thundershowers, even in the summer time, but for it to happen in January was really odd.

After the meeting I walked out to the car to find the windows coated in a thick pile of slush. Looks like the kids will have a 2 hour delay in the morning. Best not to tell them or they want to sleep in, and have the ritual out of bed struggle at the later time. It’s definitely easier to get them up at the normal time, expressing wonder at the weather and let them get all excited, about the possibility of a snow day.

I realize I keep writing about the snow, and in any other location we have lived, a few inches on the ground wouldn’t be anything of interest, but here it’s so far out of the usual weather that I find myself compelled to comment on it.

We didn’t see any snow for the first two winters we were here, with just a day or 2 last year and then this year we have had snow on 3 or 4 days this last month.

As you can see we had a bit of unusual weather. Last nights news showed that we had received 5 inches of snow yesterday. It was incredible to watch as it came down in the largest flakes I have ever seen, easily the size of half dollars. I did a little research and we didn’t break any records, back in 1943 we had 6.5 inches of snow in one day, as well as several 5.5 inch days sprinkled in the last 70 years.

Needless to say the kids are home today, they don’t have the equipment to get the hills cleaned up quickly enough. Today’s forecast includes more snow, followed by 2 days of rain, with nighttime temperatures above freezing. Hopefully the kids can go back to school tomorrow.

P.S. The above photo was taken with the new camera!

We bought a cord of firewood today, should let us finish out the winter without using the electric heat. While we were waiting for the last of it to be delivered, Kiaya, Keigan and I walked Mariposa. As we started on our walk we made sure we were well bundled against the rain and cold, but partway through the walk we were surprised by big juicy flakes falling around us. Enough to get Keigan thinking about the possibilities of a snow day when he starts back to school on tuesday. Thankfully nothing stuck and the cold rain soon returned, but we have had our snow for the year.

Stacking the wood after it arrived was less than pleasant as it was all cold and wet, wet enough that our gloves were soon soaked through. Keigan and I soon gave up the neat stacking and started to toss it into a pile in the garage, where we will sort it out later after it has had a chance to dry, or at least wait for a day where the temperature is slightly more pleasant.

Almost a pinball game out there!

Any wonders the kids had the day off?

The kids got their wish, and the schools were closed for the day with a snow day. If the rest of the country used the definition they have here for a snow day, we would never have gone to school in the winter time.

I bicyled into work as usual. The streets were clear, without the assistance of plows. Sometime around 11 the snow was completely cleared from the grass as well. Minus one or two pockets hidden in the shade that were stubbornly persisting.

An hour and a half ago saw a fresh layer of snow, though it too has cleared up at this point. Whats a snow day without the snow. Perhaps we should institute rain days, as the streets are worse in a torrential downpour than they were this morning.