First snow, Nov2014

Overnight, the temperature plummeted from relatively warm to the upper 20s, and as the cold front, the calling card of the dreaded Polar Vortex, settled over the ridge, the steady rain, accompanied by the rumbles of thunder and the occasional flash of lightning, turned briefly to snow. Not all that much farther north, there was a genuine accumulation of the white stuff—several inches or more—but here, we only received a dusting, and even then, just in a few select places. Our snow spots were a handful of clumps due south of the house. These were not enough to get me thinking about testing the cross-country gear or the snowshoes, but they were certainly baby steps in that direction—the right direction, as far as I'm concerned. After I captured the ephemeral evidence, which would vanish as soon as the sun reached these leaves, I settled in to starting the woodstove. The sun would do little to warm the house. That, for the foreseeable future, would be my job.