We have had snow most of the day. There was only about two inches accumulation overnight, but today we've added another two at least, and there was more wind and blowing snow to make driving difficult in some areas. I was talking to a friend who lives in Shelburne, Vermont this morning and he told me at his house there is mostly bare ground. I think he lives on a hillside someplace, out in the countryside. Probably he has a southern exposure, too.
     It wasn't very cold today, and tonight it's a rather pleasant 26.3 degrees - and snowing (of course!)
     I took some pictures this morning when I came back from my walk - it was very bright, the sun was almost breaking through the clouds and snowflakes, but not quite.  Tonight, Fred went out and took more pictures. We wanted to show you how high the snowbanks are around our house. Keep in mind, we use a snow blower and that tends to keep the banks lower than when they are plowed - but still it builds up. Jamie has been down a few times to push the snow back at the end of our parking area just to keep the space open. It tends to narrow up if you don't take care of it by pushing it down over the hill.
     Anyway, I was complaining to Fred that the pictures I'd taken this morning were washed out because it was so bright with the snow all around and I didn't have the shade whatchmacallit on the camera lens, so he volunteered to go out and get more tonight. I really liked these night pictures - the snowflakes and the faint images of the trees - and decided to share them here. Click on one to see them larger.
     We are overjoyed that the temperature is going to gradually moderate after tomorrow, but of course the whole thing is going to go too far in the opposite direction and get unseasonably high by Friday. There has been very little "moderation" to the weather swings this winter - it's way below or way above whatever "normal" used to be.
     One thing is for sure - there's going to be a lot of water to deal with when the weather does finally warm up.
      By the way, there was a piece on television tonight about bears. They said they are going to be unusually hungry when they come out of hibernation this year because the nut crop wasn't as good as usual last year and therefore they didn't get as much food as normal. People are being warned to get their bird feeders in soon because it's about time for the bears to be waking up and they'll be looking for food. They will eat just about anything when they are hungry enough, and will do just about anything to get to food. So beware.