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Winter wonderland
We are having an unusually gorgeous winter. Normally, our snowfalls are light, dry, and infrequent, interspersed with wind. It's much too cold for the snow to melt, so it piles up on the ground all winter, but the trees quickly lose their snow coating and turn into bare sticks. Winter in Fairbanks is white, but it is not a picture-postcard experience, usually - I mean, there are appealing aspects about it (the subtle pastel colors are nice, and during long cold snaps the trees get coated with hoarfrost, which is neat). Generally, though, winter is kind of bland, visually speaking.
But not this winter! We got a rare sticky snow early in the year, which seemed to turn the trees into snow magnets that even the lightest snow sticks to. Most of the winter has been that gorgeous lacy snow-covered look that you get right after a snowfall. We lost a bunch of it in a windstorm recently, but a couple of days ago, our forecast 2-3 inches ended up being 9 (as measured on the hood of the car), so everything has been freshly snow-sheathed.
I did some shoveling yesterday for the first time since surgery (9 1/2 weeks ago). I was very cautious, stopping frequently and trying not to twist from the waist, but it doesn't seem to have even made me sore. I wasn't actually shoveling the driveway (it's about half a mile from the house to the highway, that would be impossible), but rather, cleaning up berms and loose snow from Orion's quick-and-dirty plowing before he went to work.
Snow-bent trees along the driveway.
The tree-framed driveway leading out to the gravel pit.
Dramatic winter skies and snowy trees along the side of the gravel pit.
Then I looked over and saw a moose, framed between some of the trees. My phone camera's zoom is absolutely terrible, but I did my best to get a shot of it.
Honestly, it wasn't very close and it didn't seem aggressive, but being home alone and out by myself, I wasn't about to take a chance. Moose says shovel work is over for the day!
But not this winter! We got a rare sticky snow early in the year, which seemed to turn the trees into snow magnets that even the lightest snow sticks to. Most of the winter has been that gorgeous lacy snow-covered look that you get right after a snowfall. We lost a bunch of it in a windstorm recently, but a couple of days ago, our forecast 2-3 inches ended up being 9 (as measured on the hood of the car), so everything has been freshly snow-sheathed.
I did some shoveling yesterday for the first time since surgery (9 1/2 weeks ago). I was very cautious, stopping frequently and trying not to twist from the waist, but it doesn't seem to have even made me sore. I wasn't actually shoveling the driveway (it's about half a mile from the house to the highway, that would be impossible), but rather, cleaning up berms and loose snow from Orion's quick-and-dirty plowing before he went to work.
Snow-bent trees along the driveway.
The tree-framed driveway leading out to the gravel pit.
Dramatic winter skies and snowy trees along the side of the gravel pit.
Then I looked over and saw a moose, framed between some of the trees. My phone camera's zoom is absolutely terrible, but I did my best to get a shot of it.
Honestly, it wasn't very close and it didn't seem aggressive, but being home alone and out by myself, I wasn't about to take a chance. Moose says shovel work is over for the day!
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I don't think I would've noticed the moose if you hadn't pointed it out, but definitely seems prudent to leave the winter wonderland to it!
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I've never seen a moose IRL and I gather that they are substantially bigger than I think they are. Unlike reindeer, which are TINY.
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Ah, moose. Spoiler of many an elementary-school recess...
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We haven't had any snow. It's depressing me a bit.
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Hurray for being able to shovel!
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