As the warmth seems to be sticking around, and February is half over, I am wondering whether this is not merely a warm spell, but the beginnings of an early Spring. Just in case, I thought I'd best fill my lab freezers with snow samples. So I slept in a bit this morning, until the sun was up and commute traffic had died down (traffic being those seven cars that drive up the street each day), and put together my extremely high-tech snow-collection rig (newly improved since last season, but the addition of a box to keep it more stable). I then returned to the beaver pond with the girls, filled my tupperware containers with the large, beautiful snow crystals that I had found there, and returned home.
It was very beautiful on the pond today, with the sun shining golden from a crazy blue sky. I tried to encourage the dogs to run around and enjoy themselves a bit while I measured and sampled snow, but they saw me digging in the snow and wanted to see what I was going for, so they dug their own snow hole next to mine. When I had gotten the samples and measurements I wanted, I informed the girls that they would have to tow me home, but that I was determined that they also have some fun today. So before putting everything back together and hooking up to them, I skied a lap around the pond while they ran around like loonies. It was very warm (mid 20s F), the morning was very beautiful, and I was very happy but also a little sad. It's a shame that the most enjoyable part of Winter comes at the end, when it's almost over.
No comments:
Post a Comment