Spring is Here!

I'll begin my obligatory (but belated) snow-in-spring post with the line, from a Tom Lehrer song, that I belted out when I went outside to join my wife and daughter in the snow: "Spring is here. Spring is here. Life is skittles and life is beer."

Last Sunday's snowstorm was memorable, to me anyway, as dumping the most on top of me while I was awake. The morning started with nothing on the ground, but the snow and sleet had already started. Not because I am used to snow and was planning ahead, but just to get it over with, I went out to do the week's grocery shopping at 8:30 a.m. During the forty-five minutes or so between my entering the store and leaving, the parking lot acquired enough snow that I met resistance as I pushed the shopping cart back to the car. The drive back, before any plows had made a dent in anything, was touch-and-go: I was doing thirty on the Interstate. None of the other drivers passed me or gained ground on me.

Between the usual Sunday chores and some shoveling to keep up with the snow, I watched my daughter play and took a few pictures for my own amusement. I hope you enjoy them, too. (Regarding keeping up with the snow, I was glad I did the next day: I got all our sidewalks and the driveway -- along with the car -- done in less than half an hour, and without breaking my back. Not bad for a greenhorn.)

Without further ado, here are the pictures. Brief captions follow below them. Click to enlarge.

The image at left is the deck at mid-afternoon. I went out a bit later to find out how deep the snow piling on the railing was. We got two or three more inches after that picture was taken, but it didn't accumulate any further on the rails that I could tell.

This is another view from the back door and across the deck.

Around ten, Mrs. Van Horn built this snowman. As I was out shoveling snow a couple of hours later, I noticed that snow had built up on his arms and took this shot. As the day progressed, additional snow caused the snowman to tilt further and further to his left until he fell and then turned into a lump with a single twig sticking out at a crazy angle. Sadly, my plans to create digital documentation of the progression for posterity went by the wayside.

Over the course of the week, especially over the past few days, warmer temperatures made this impressive snow cover all but vanish. Yesterday, I took the baby outside to enjoy the remnants, wearing a light jacket and enjoying a sunny spring day. This was the most fun, I think, for both of us, as she is really too young to do much more than poke around until she gets too cold. Yesterday was perfect for that, except that I wouldn't let her eat the now filthy snow.

-- CAV