Winter Storm Flashback

December 30th.  Happiness.  Complete.

Morning of the storm, pre-flakes

It started, at last, as a few lazy flakes dancing their way to the ground around 11 AM.  We had just made a run to the Ranch House to use the phone to make some calls and cancel a January 2nd motel reservation “just in case” we got snowed in.  There’d been talk of this among the few folks we’d seen a couple days ago at the grocery in Divide and the hardware store in Florissant -- storm moving in Wednesday or Thursday with snow and highs in the teens -- and we’d restlessly awaited it’s arrival.  Well, it’s here.

At first I watched from the loft window as the snow picked up a bit, seeming to disappear upon reaching the ground.  Downstairs in front of the fire I watched the flakes grow to the size of doll house doilies.  The far mountain across the valley started to fade as the snowfall increased until it could only be seen in your imagination.  One by one the ridges between have ceased to exist.  Looking through the windows on three sides of the living room one had the feeling of living inside a snow globe.

Four hours later the view is cloaked in snowfall

The ground took on a glazed look and before long the red rocks towering outside the back door looked sifted with powdered sugar.  Soon the ground was hidden under a few inches of soft billowed snow and the upper sides of the tree boughs became covered in white.  First the firs and spruce with their closely spaced needles caught and kept the snow, but now the ponderosas are clutching the flakes as well.  The red rocks have become almost totally hidden and every so often there’s a mini-avalanche.

Stellar's jay tests the insulative properties of feathers

We are three hours into a storm predicted to last well into tomorrow, and we seem to be getting over an inch an hour.  Some birds persist at the feeder; the mountain chickadees have outlasted the Stellar’s jays and white-breasted nuthatches, though the juncos bravely left their ground feeding ways and tried the feeders for a bit.  The sky continues to darken though it is early afternoon.  The colored Christmas lights hung on the deck are cloaked with snow.

Despite the decades of history on this site my husband says he could count the number of times he’s seen this big a snow storm here on one hand.  The old cabin was not built to be comfortable in these conditions, and with temperatures falling from below freezing towards single digits a trip to the outhouse would have taken some serious thought.  Despite the storm our wood burning stove is easily keeping us warm in this tight snug cabin.  We’ve books to read, games to play, puzzles to work, lots of good food and good wine, and a genuine winter wonderland outside to watch.  We are well on the way to being snowed in, and having everyone else be snow out -- a wonderful experience with the one you love best.  We couldn’t be happier.

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