Wonderfully Deep

WARMER NOW THAN THEN

Not Quite As Deep

but deep enough

(WALLPAPERS BELOW IF YOU CHOOSE)
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.. The neighborhood is looking clean. Snow always does that. This winter is certainly not as cold or deep as just a decade ago.
.. There's only been a couple of days below -30° F, and we've not been the coldest place in the nation as was common in the recent past. We've not seen more than a single blizzard. We've not seen a "2-foot dump." And we've not seen much of the sun.

.. The Gulf Of Alaska Low has been fairly weak, the arctic air has stayed to the north and east of us, and despite the considerable grayness, it's been a salubrious winter by historical standards. Those low, gray clouds are mom's comforter.
.. Time was when there were tunnels to front doors and thermometers broke in the week-long cold spells. Now there's barely 4' of snow on the ground and it's ablating rapidly in the warm dry air. Roofs are being kept clean and not a single one has collapsed in the last 3 years.
.. The snowpack in the mountains is holding it's own and the rivers have only a very few small icebergs. Fish are leaping after midges, twigs, and bits of flotsam just like it was early spring. In fact there have been spring days colder than today: and there will be again.
.. Starting tomorrow we will return to a brief encounter with a real winter: 7" - 10" of snow and temps falling briefly to about -20° F.
.. It's been so nice lately that we took a moment to visit the neighborhood shops in town. It's novel to chat with the neighbors in a setting other than the post office, or the grocery store, or the hardware store.
.. Yes, it's deep: wonderfully so!

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