Those wily scurs predicted the snowfall about right, although the low temperatures managed to elude them. Somehow people would’ve rather have had that forecast methinks. Will our good weather luck return? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs around 30 and lows around 20. Thursday, partly cloudy and slightly warmer. Highs close to 35 and lows back down to 20. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of snow. Highs near 30 and lows around 15. Partly cloudy on Saturday and cooler. Highs of 25 with lows near 5 above. Sunday, partly cloudy and cooler with a chance of snow. Highs of 20 and lows of 15. Mostly cloudy on Monday with temperatures starting to rebound. Highs near 25 and lows of 15. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs of 25 – 30 and lows of 15 – 20. The normal high for January 28th is 23 and the normal low is 4. The scurs are betting we haven’t seen the last of the below-zero temperatures for this winter and have laid in some additional long handled underwear just to be on the safe side.
It was interesting to see some snow accumulation for a change. As it was, the first snow fell and stayed put for almost 24 hours until it was blown away. It measured about 2.5” at the ranch and melted down, just a hair over ¼” of liquid equivalent precip at .26”. The freezing drizzle that ensued made it a little more challenging to measure when combined with the snow. That total from the Monday snow/drizzle combo came to about 2.4” at the ranch and melted down to .18”. This was a very dense snow, which became very evident when trying to move it. So far this winter, we’ve measured a little over 14” of snow, most of which melted not too long after falling. All things considered, the precipitation that has fallen January is still more than we received in the month of October or November. Of course that’s not saying much.
The snow wound up collecting in drifts after the Saturday night wind, leaving only wheel tracks and footprints where travel compressed it. The snow did manage to make itself a nuisance however. It collected at the ranch in front of the garage and between the barn and driveway. Oh sure, we could’ve driven through it I suppose, but I have yet to be sorry I moved snow out of the way. I’ve seen too many people pull into the yard thinking they could drive wherever they wanted only to get stuck in a snow bank someplace. The worst part of that is some dummy usually has to pull them out and that dummy is usually me.
The birds at our feeders have responded to the renewed winter conditions. The activity level has been reminiscent of some of the cold days last January. There were a couple dozen goldfinches at any given time along with white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, juncos, downy and hairy woodpeckers as well as some recent newcomers, American tree sparrows.
Last week’s cold snap put one of the tank heaters out of commission so Ruby and I had to make one of those awful trips to the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. Ruby was only too glad to ride along in as copilot in the backseat. Her vocabulary continues to expand. She knows many words now such as “outside,” “hop up,” “go see Jo,” “go see Mark,” “get your ball” and “squirrel.” Ruby’s favorite phrase however is “let’s go do chores.” Her response is to immediately run to the entryway door and sit at attention with her ears on full alert. Any move towards the door results in celebratory jumping and once the door is open she is through it like a shot. She knows it’s time to head out so she can be around her sheep. In the morning she rousts them from their slumber and at night, she serves as the signal that bellering should commence.
Must be about time to get my eyes checked again. At a recent conference someone saw me reading and asked if I needed longer arms. A few weeks ago while putting the carburetor back on the Lark, I was having a devil of a time getting my head cranked around so I could get the linkage to the choke connector rod properly attached. Installing a trapeze so I could hang from the ceiling crossed my mind. About the only good thing: the small numbers on the sheep’s ear tags suddenly seem about the right size. Somehow I doubt that will count when I take the eye test to renew my driver’s license.
At least when buying a new confuser I went with a larger screen. Of course, with a new operating system and updated versions of the programs you were just getting used to, there’s always a learning curve. It’s almost as though someone came into your house and rearranged everything without telling you exactly where they put it. Some of it makes sense but some of it makes you scratch your head and wonder. Actually, aside from those issues it’s been a fairly smooth transition. The touch on the keyboard takes a little getting used to, although retraining the spellcheck will likely be the biggest hurdle. It still doesn’t understand what Fencelines or the scurs are yet. That makes two of us.
Speaking of that, this column marks an anniversary. It was 10 years ago that Lavonne Meyer accepted a manuscript I’d written. The following week another was requested and the rest is history. It’s meant some time commitment over the past 10 years. At approximately 1.1 pages per week, 52 weeks per year over 9 years with 2 – 3 hours per session, well, you do the math. We haven’t missed a week due to the alien since its inception. Hopefully readers still enjoy it as much as I do. To be sure, there are times the column is more difficult to write than others especially when striving to write new, original material each week. And as I’ve pointed out before, sometimes the columns I’ve struggled the most with and been the least impressed by have yielded the most positive response. Thankfully the crack management staff has allowed me as much latitude as they have. What to do with all the money this project has generated continues to be the problem.
See you next week…real good then.