A New Year

Sunday morning broke with falling and blowing snow and temperatures dropping rapidly.  The weather service describes this as the coldest weather mass in many years.  The snow had started Saturday night and continued through most of the daylight hours of Sunday.  This picture was taken out of our front door looking toward the garden.

I ventured out in the snow to take some pictures,  It seemed to be seven or eight inches deep, though it is hard to tell when it is blowing around so much.  This is looking down our lane past the garden, with snow blowing up the lane.  The area around our house, which is surrounded on three sides by forest, is somewhat protected, so the blowing snow was much greater beyond the garden.

Looking toward the garden with a drift off the edge of the lane.

Looking up the lane at the blowing snow from the same location.

Birds at the bird feeder with snow blowing off of the roof of the back porch.  The feeders have been very busy during all of this time.  Temperatures were about 15 below zero on Monday morning, and didn't get quite up to zero through the day.  The dip down well below zero again tonight, but are supposed to "warm" up in the teens tomorrow.

I took this picture this evening after we had someone plow the lane.  I couldn't do it with my tractor, which has no cab, with the  wind chills so dangerously low.  I tried to drive out of the lane with our four wheel drive pickup but got stuck in a drift and barely made it back.  Our flat field to the right was transformed into storm-tossed waves of snow, with billowing drifts two or three feet high.  Unfortunately, these drifts got into the lane in spots.