Snow in back yard
Heavy snow falling
Well, we are in the middle of a winter storm event that is going to be about 10 days or so. An arctic blast from northern Canada decided to move west and south and park itself right over the Pacific NW. Combine that with some moisture off the Pacific Ocean mixed with a southerly wind warming things up in the upper atmosphere, and you get snow. Not a huge accumulation, but just enough to be an annoyance and cause problems on the roads. It is, however, lovely to look at. The unsettling thing about this Winter weather event has been the extreme (for our area) cold temperatures. It has not been this cold in 2 decades (20 years). We have had daytime highs in the low 20's, and dropping into the teens at night. Add a strong east wind of 15-20 mph, and you get wind chills of about 5-7'. That is cold! My cheeks are chapped from the icy wind. Sally does not seem to mind the cold. But I have to go out and check her water and break up the ice in her bowl frequently. I went around the house and closed all the foundation vents to keep the icy air off the pipes. The poor heat pump has been working nonstop. And I keep going out to fill the bird feeders. This morning there were about 30 birds munching on the Wild Bird Seed. We have Oregon Juncos, Chickadees, Sparrows of all sorts, Nuthatches, Mourning Doves, Towhees, etc. It is fun to watch the symbiotic relationship of the birds. Some of them are feeder eaters. Others eat from the seeds that fall to the ground from the scratching of the sparrows on the feeder (they are messy eaters).
We are scheduled to have more snow tomorrow - up to 3 more inches. And Sat. looks like it could be a nasty snow/ice storm. Not fun for all the Christmas events scheduled. A Christmas concert that I wanted to go to last weekend was cancelled because of snow. And our annual Church Ladies Christmas Cookie Exchange was also cancelled on Monday night.
At least I got all my Christmas cards addressed and sent to the ladies that are part of the Changed Choices program in the SE prison system. I sent out 52 cards this year. Many of the women have no family and getting a Christmas card means so much to them.
Well, that is all for now. Stay warm and well. And be blessed.
