Nearly Wordless Wednesday: From the Very Edge of the Storm

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY REVIVED!

It has been so long since I posted a "Nearly Wordless Wednesday" post on a regular basis that I would have to research my archives to figure out when I was last in the habit. I have been neglecting the fun side and the daily life part of my blog in the past while, but now with a new year and so many changes, it is as good a time as any to revive these homely and fun practices. No better time, really, than when one is at the western edge of an historic blizzard!

Winter Storm Warnings appeared on Sunday here, and were not in effect for Apache County, AZ just 12 miles to the west. The storm formed here, where all the weather maps showed the front forming and the Jet stream was just east of us. The first precipitation started Monday afternoon, in the form of sleet that turned to snow.







It snowed in bands interspersed with sunshine all day Tuesday. Here at the edge, we were getting blowback from the rotation of the storm cell. On Tuesday evening, the dogs and I enjoyed a spirited ball game, the Canine Super Bowl, in weather that was reminiscent of Soldier Field.

It snowed all night Tuesday to Wednesday morning, and the Cross Quarter dawned gray and cloudy, but soon turned to sunshine as the cold front finally rotated back to us. A snow day for the CIT meant that we fed the cattle in the light. Domestic cattle do not scrape off the snow to get at the grass. They must be fed when the snow is on!

The snow in this picture is deeper than it looks--about six inches fell on Ragamuffin ranch.



This snowy hillside is the view from my new office window in the house at Ragamuffin Ranch. It was taken this afternoon, when the storm had passed and the cold had come on.

Although it is quite cold outside, the sun coming through the picture window feels warm on my face.





A combination of fog created by the sublimation of the snow by the intense sunlight and windblown surface snow obscure the side vents of the Red Hill caldera to the northeast, making a kind of foggy ground blizzard in the plains north of our valley. Beautiful. And deadly cold.

I don't know if old Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow or not, but I do hope that we get an early spring this year! Last year it was quite late, and I am still shell shocked from the two-storms per week regimine that we endured last year. I like snow. And we need it. But the bitter cold, I can do without.

The Spring Break That Wasn't Spring

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I missed Nearly Wordless Wednesday last week because I am getting tired of posting snow pictures. And I thought that surely this week, with it being the Rasta Jew's Spring Break, surely it would act like spring. Especially since the Astronomical First Day of Spring occured on the second Saturday of said Spring Break.

Sigh. Not this year. So this NWW features snow pictures once again.

Monday of the Spring Break that wasn't spring.

Umbrae loves the snow.

At least someone was happy!

And once again, Sandia Peak in snow.




















The Engineering Geek walks three dogs--in the snow.










First day of Spring. Anticipating a Road Trip, I had stayed the night in town, so that a friend and I could get out and go south to the sunshine. It was a good thing I did. Here is Henry the Big Red Truck parked at the hotel where I stayed . I-40 through the canyon was closed. I would have never gotten out!













After traversing snow-packed freeways--New Mexico has never learned to plow them when it starts snowing--we finally found sunshine between Socorro and Truth or Consequences.

But here, looking east from Emory Pass, more . . . need I say it? . . .snow.

Winter in Sedillo

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Winter pictures to make the fireside feel warm . . .





The just past full blue moon of December sets above the Sandia Mountain Front to the west. The sky is rimmed with the pink of approaching dawn.

A freezing fog has set on the leaves of a Rocky

Mountain Juniper. The air was damp and cold,

signalling an approaching snowstorm.

More freezing fog on the Juniper at the top of South Sedillo Ridge. All around, the air is full of the very cold fog.

Restless clouds in a turning sky,

telling of the heavy weather.

The snow fell from the first storm

of three coming through this week.

Snow from the second storm fell this morning, adding layers to the snow from previous storms.

The third storm is coming Friday. We have had snowcover up here on Sedillo since December 7. It looks like we may have it until the cross-quarter day.




By then, I believe I will be ready for spring!

Walk Between Storms

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Last night, we were anticipating snow, but when we went sleep it was clear outside.

But this morning the sun rose over a meadow covered in three inches of new fallen snow.

This is as close to a solstice picture as could be gotten from our location this year, as the past two mornings were cloudy.

There's nothing more beautifully incongruous than a snow covered Cholla cactus. The Pinyon trees behind it hold up the heavy, wet snow.

We welcome snow in our desert mountains, not only for it's beauty but for the moisture that can mean the difference between feast and famine, and freedom from fire next spring and summer.

Home on Winter Break, the Boychick begins our morning walk with the grand-dog Ruby, and the new puppy, Umbrae.

The Engineering Geek waves goodbye in the doorway. By the time we return, he'll have scraped the truck and have left for work.

Ruby seems to be lunging for the camera.



The "big girls", Lily and Shayna, alert to a rabbit in the meadow. Shayna seems to have a special love for snow, and is more excited and alert this morning than usual. Off leash, she cavorts and plays, making me play with her, so that I never get any pictures of the fun.






After a walk in the meadow and the woods, we head back. Looking down the long hill west we see the clouds building and beginning to spill over the Sandia Mountain Front. The next wave of the storm is on the way.





Sure enough, by lunchtime, the cleared car is covered, and the snow is falling heavily and steadily, on our ridge behind.
The clouds darkened and lowered, and we had periods of intense snow, and clouds that played hide-n-seek with the sun all afternoon.


As I write, after dark, it is once again clear. But the next wave is on the way according to the forcast.


Those who celebrate Christmas up her on South Sedillo Ridge will have a white one!


Even those of us who don't so celebrate enjoy the beauty of the snow.

Lightning and Thunder Blizzard

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

And another snow day. But this time, a blizzard.

On Monday morning the weather alert went out. Blizzard warning for the East Mountains.

I went to an NMPA strategy session with Dave and Ray at Ray's house just west of Moriarity. When Dave and I drove back toward Edgewood at 3 PM, it began to rain. By the time we were climbing the east side of Sedillo hill it was snow. By the time I got the truck and went to get the Boychick, Highway 14 and Frost Rd. were snowpacked.

A walk with the dogs at 8:00 PM and there were three inches and still snowing. Then it stopped.

But the blizzard had yet to arrive. At 5:30 Tuesday morning we were awakened by two very bright lighting flashes, one after another, followed by thunder. Suddenly, with two dogs now on the bed with us, the wind picked up and the snow began to lash the house. The blizzard had arrived. By 5:55 AM, we got the SchoolReach call: two hour delay. After walking the dogs a very short distance, we got the second call. Full snow day. The roads kept drifting as fast as the crews could clear them.

A strong west wind, gusts up to 60 MPH, blows snow across the meadow. On Monday evening, the trees had been beautifully flocked with snow. The wind removed it.









Almost white-out conditions prevailed a good part of the day. The clouds were as dark as rain clouds, but they were producing snow. It was hard to tell sometimes whether it was snowing or just blowing snow.

More falling and blowing snow as the coulds raced from west to east; moments of sunshine peeking through were followed by more clouds piling over the mountain front. And more falling snow.

Afternoon, and the snow stopped. The sun was still playing coy among the clouds--now out, now hidden.

And I finally got an answer to my question. Were the tracks in the yard other dogs or coyotes? Definitely coyote.

Here is a young one, down by the scrub oak behind the house. Beautiful!

Tomorrow. Two hour delay because the roads are icy. But we should be able to get out of here.

Tell El Nino. Tell Winter: Let up until after the wedding.

Please? With a dusting of snow on top?

Somewhat Wordless Snow Day!

NEARLY WORDLESS SPECIAL

Yesterday I did not post a nearly wordless Wednesday.

I had words and only words to post, and completely forgot it was Wednesday.

This morning, however Mother Nature--with the help of El Nino--did just that.

It began snowing right when I took Umbre out for his early morning constitutional.

It was 14 degrees (F) and the snow began.

Our 1 - 3 inches turned into 6 - 8 inches and it snowed steadily until nearly 4 PM.

I didn't know it could snow much at such low temperatures.

The view from the dining room window.

Apparently, it is time to put away the autumn decorations and take out the winter things.

The Menorah can stay. Hannukah begins next Friday, the day before the Chem Geek Princess's Wedding.

Umbre loves snow!
He tunnels in it, he digs it, he snuffs his nose into it, and even eats it.

The little guy is just full of himself!

Umbre was the only one going anywhere today.
Henry, the Big Red Truck, did not get so much as a warm up or a good scraping today.

Although his school was in session, I wasn't going to take the Boychick until I saw a snowplow.

We did not see one until well after East Mountain threw in the towel and closed early.






Nearly sunset, and the sky cleared.
Beautiful.

But the temperature also began to drop precipitously from our daytime high of 14 degrees. By sunset we experienced single digits.

Now the temp is heading across the zero point and into negative numbers.

And the sky is clouding up again as the wind shifts. Could it really snow when its that cold?

They say it might. I'll believe it when I see it!

The Jet Stream, Mid-April Snowstorm

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Usually by this time in the spring, the Jet Stream has moved north to at least the Colorado border, and it has become weaker. April and May and most of June in New Mexico are dry and windy, until the Monsoon arrives in late June or early July. Thus, although April is often a snowy month in the Northern Rockies, the Southern Rockies and the Central Mountians of New Mexico rarely get any precipitation at all.

This year is an unsual one for weather patterns, and the Jet Stream was located down along the Mexican border this past weekend, pulling a wild and woolly snowstorm into the Northern Rockies, the Southern Rockies, the Colorado Plateau and the Central Mountain chains of New Mexico.

It was beautiful, but we are looking for SPRING! On Sunday morning I put the snow shovel away until October, I hope!

Friday morning, April 17, 2009.

Friday afternoon, April 17, 2009.

Friday evening, April 17, 2009.

Saturday morning, April 18, 2009, Pre-dawn.

Saturday morning walk, April 18, 2009.

Sunday morning, April 19, 2009

After the storm departed during the wee hours Saturday, it became clear and warmer. By Saturday afternoon, the snow was gone and it was hard to remember that it had been there at all. The weather has become warm and sunny. Normal for this time and this place!

Last Snowstorm of the Winter?

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Astronomical spring for the northern hemisphere begins this coming Friday morning. Since the temperature these past few days has been in 50's and a high parked over the Four Corners is giving us guarranteed sunshine, last weekend's snowstorm was probably the last official snowstorm of the winter.



It was a wet, heavy snow that began falling Friday morning, just as we got up to get the day underway.

The roads were wet and slushy as I drove into Albuquerque to hear Temple Grandin speak.
This late winter snowstorm brought great beauty, and no inconvenience.

Here, the woods are full of the music of treble drips overlying a deep silence in the Friday evening gloaming.

Athough our Shy Shayna is afraid of many things, we found that she likes the snow!

She puts her nose down into it and tosses it joyfully into the air!

The Engineering Geek and Lily make their way through the trees at the edge of the high meadow.

We made our walk extra long through the woods, for this may be the last time this year that we see the branches laden with snow.

Sunday morning, and the remnants of the storm spill down the eastern side of the Sandia fault block. Overhead, ragged clouds scurry to the east, and the winds promise blue skies in the offing.

Sandia Crest is swathed in cloud, and the mountain tops are frosted in white.

Cold and clearing on Sunday morning, and by afternoon, it was warm and sunny.

Every day is uniquely perfect, here in G-d's country!

The Third Storm

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

After almost a month of sunshine and two weeks of really warm weather, three storms blew in over the past few days. The first dropped about an inch of very wet snow on Sunday afternoon, but it blew through in a few hours, and caused no incovenience. Then it snowed lightly Monday morning.

We were warned that the big storm was coming in Monday night, but it wasn't until 7 AM Tuesday morning, when I took Lily out for our (sadly) solo walk, it started snowing and the rapidly accumulating snow was blowing over the roads. Given that Zoey needs her meds every few hours, I did not want to get stranded in town, so I stayed home all day.

A break in the storm in forenoon gave me

the chance to take the dogs out for a break.

This is a rare picture of the northeast side

of the house. It is sheltered by the trees,and so

was a good spot for Zoey to walk gently.

Just as we were coming inside for lunch,
another wave blew over Cedro Peak,
blurring the far horizon, and making
our world seem smaller, darker and colder.

It snowed off and on, as waves of clouds came over the mountains from the south.

The sun would appear, only to be obscured

by clouds that were dark and blue,

and thunderstorm-like.

Towards sunset, the last of the clouds

tumbled over the Sandia Mountain Front,

and towered, thunderheads, high into the

evening sky, hiding the sunset.

As night deepened, it became blustery as broken clouds scudded across the full moon, and temperature dropped rapidly.

A cold morning is coming on.

Today, New Mexico-like, the temperature should swing from a low of 15 degrees to a high of 50.

Hannukah, Teenage Angst, and Snowstorm Malaise

Here we go again!

I love snow. Normally. Really, I do. But in the past two weeks we have had one storm after another. And this week, I have left the subdivision once. On Wednesday. For an hour at the grocery store.

The storms have come one after another, and the county is not doing a great job plowing our road. So we have been snowbound.

And our Hannukah has been strange. Not bad. Just strange. For the second and third night we had the Boychick's friend A. (also Jewish) snowed in with us. For some reason, the Boychick decided that it would be cool to demonstrate teenage angst about the Hannukah observance.

Before we light the candles, we usually talk about the meaning of Hannukah. On each night, our discussion is framed by a Hebew word expressing a Jewish value or a Maccabean value. On the first night that A. was here both boys acted like they had never heard of the Maccabees when we talked about Jewish Identity and the importance of knowing who we are.

This irritated me a bit because, after all, we have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours sending these little tw . . . uh, young men to Hebrew School and Machon. "What do you mean, you don't know much about Hannukah?" I said. Forcefully.

The Engineering Geek said to me (out of the side of his mouth), "This is the result of all those years of discussing the damn December Dilemma* rather than telling the kids straight up who they are and what they are expected to do about it." That may be true. But certainly they have discussed the Maccabees recently? The boys say that they haven't. But I don't want to get started on the state of Jewish education in the Reform movement these days . . . been there, done that, got the blog entries. And anyway, there was that eye-rolling, 'this is just so tiresome' teenage angst to deal with. So I made them watch the Sam Glaser/JewishFan You-Tube. I will leave the heavy sighs and peach-fuzz lip facial expressions to your imagination.

*It is rather peculiar that in the Reform Movement's Jewish Education, they spend more time talking about how it feels to be different in December, and how it's not so bad to have a Christmas tree in a Jewish home, rather than teaching a solid understanding of why we celebrate Hannukah, why it's not a major holiday, and what it has to do with Jewish Identity. In fact, it reminds me of a joke. But I will tell it later . . . Just think about Jessica Tansley's line in Driving Miss Daisy: With a nose like that, she has no right to be hollaring 'Merry Christmas!' But I digress.

On the nights of Hannukah, while the candles burn, we have a rule that all family members will stay in the room, and we will do something together. Usually, we sing some Hannukah songs, open a present, play games, or read aloud. But no TV and no computers.

On the same night as the Maccabee Ignorance Claim, we played dreidl for a while, after A. and the Boychick both opened their presents. A. actually got into it, but the Boychick used those special teen signals to let us know exactly how juvenile and tiresome it all was. Life. With. Parents. Is. Just. So. B-O-O-O-RING.

Bruce and I exchanged glances. And pretended we did not notice any of it. They. Do. Turn. Back. Into. Humans. Eventually.

But when they are being especially obnoxious, when they are performing for their friends, doing anything together as a family takes much more effort.

Over the next nights of Hannukah, I have been ready. On the third night I sat the boys down and said to them:
"Remember in the You-Tube how they said that studying Torah was a capital offense? Do you know what that means? Do you know what they did to the mothers and babies that were circumcised in defiance of the tyrant's decrees?" And we read Hannah and her Seven Sons from one of the books of Maccabees. (These are in the Jewish Apocrypha).

Then the EG asked them: Suppose you lived in those times. First, you were told you had to sacrifice to the genus of Antiochus. Then you were told you had to sacrifice a pig on the altar. Then you were forced to eat pig. Then you were forced to watch your sons compete naked in the gymnasium. Then you were forbidden to teach and study Torah on pain of death. Then you were forced to watch an execution of a woman and her baby because the baby had a bris. At what point would you stand up for your values? Why that point?"

They both responded with some sighs and angst, but then as they disagreed with one another, we actually had a reasonable conversation. Reasonable for teens.
And the Boychick's attitude has become more cooperative since A. went home. Not because A. is a problem, but because there's no one to perform for except parents. And we are not impressed.

Outside, we now have around six inches and the snow is still falling steadily.
Earlier we took the dogs out. They have to go, rain, shine or blizzard.

And our little Tomboy Lily made me reconsider my grumpy reaction to yet another blizzard.

She just loves snow! Her ears perk up, she gets excited. She romps and plays in it.

That's the thing about the dogs. They are always happy about something. They get excited about the important things: Snow. Snoozing. People coming home. Walks. Dinner. Being together.

They may create mischief now and then. But there's never a moment of angst.

Happy Hannukah!