Well, March did come in like a lion, more like a pack of lions. We have lived here for over 30 years, and I have never seen such a late series of winter storms. Let me be clear, I LOVE snow. I can never usually get enough of it. But these last weeks, even I cringed to wake up to more grey gloomy skies letting go of yet more snow flakes.
We have been in a frozen pocket of gray freezing fog for two weeks, plus the snow. Cold temperatures, that I think the lowest was 4 degrees, and the usual highs were under 20 degrees. We got an initial dump of 3 feet of snow at once, then it added up over days to 4 1/2 feet or so at our house.
Oh for childhood, when we had no responsibility for the snow, just the fun. People struggled all over town, to shovel or snow blow homes and businesses, and later to get snow off roofs and chip away ice dams. Let alone just drive anywhere. Schools were down all week and many businesses for at least two days or more.
Even I, snow lover that I am, got down and tired of all the struggle. The insurance man was out every day shoveling, and caught a bronchial bug that he tried to ignore, but managed to share with me. I think if this had happened in December, deep winter, like it's supposed to, it wouldn't have been quite so bad. But my daffies, tulips and crocuses had already broken ground and I was looking forward to a bit of spring bloom. Who knows when all this ice will melt and we will see ground again?
As I write this, at least the cold and fog have lifted, and we are seeing sunshine and blue skies. What a treasure that is. Hope once again for rebirth and springtime. We are also headed over the mountain pass (feet upon feet of snow) for a memorial service, and should see some blooms in the Willamette Valley. I snapped this photo two weeks ago, on the Oregon Coast, to reassure myself that spring blooms do still exist somewhere.
Here is to hoping that March goes out like a lamb!
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