The wind is howling today and the snow is swirling as if its chaotic behavior is aiming to cause cardiac distress. So far there is about 12-18” of snow and drifts of approximately 2-3 feet. The drifts are due to the fierce 60-70 mph wind coming from the north. I worry that my ATV plow might not be able to handle it when it calms down and I go out to make a trail.
“One thing about cold weather: it brings out the statistician in everyone. The temperatures, the wind speeds, the chill factors were always different, but always bad.” And though we attempt to be accurate in our forecast, we exaggerate due to the harshness of the elements berating us, like the erratic progress of a tricky argument, between vice and virtue—
At times, when the storm can be seen brewing over the western slopes, it creates a “wintry shimmer under a sky of gray oatmeal.” The Old Patagonian Express, by Paul Thereaux. The vastness of the storm, while still in utero, menaces our minds and sends us either into oblivion, knowing that a reprieve from daily outdoor chores is abating; or it creates a tension that sends us all to the stores to stock up for the pending doom.
The beauty of it all when the pounding quits can only be described as Nature’s close up, as if Deauville is ready to snap moments of artful elegance amid the artistry of perfection. The tiniest of snowflakes beautifully bejeweled in quickly vanishing virtue.
At first light, The sun reveals a stark reality that sharpens the eyes where shades are inevitable. It breaks the dawn with a spike of blue sky and sunlight bathed in the frozen planet. Soaked in sparkles as it gleams it way across the horizon.
When the storm subsides, the snow blowing across the mountain tops feels like a warm exhale across the valley. It is divine geography at its best.
Bringinthesheaves 