Late Night Snow

Well, yet again...it's late at night. But it is absolutely gorgeous outside!!

Snow has been falling all day. And not just any snow. But the soft, light, fluffy kind. It seems to bring a calm to everything it touches. The world seems like a much quieter place with a foot of snow or more on it.

I don't even remember how many times I have shoveled the sidewalk and part of the driveway. And where I am house/dog/horse wrangling, it is not a small driveway.


In the above picture, you can partially see Molly. Anytime I go outside, she goes out to, to play in the snow. It's fun to watch her. She is definitely like a kid when it comes to the white stuff. But heck, so am I! Just too bad I forgot my snow pants! And it's just not as fun when my jeans freeze at the bottom of the pant legs since they were so wet from the snow.

But I still love the snow...even though I believe we have broken the record for snow fall in 1 season. Yes, at times, I too wish we could be done with the snow. But I can't imagine myself living in a place where you don't get to experience every single season that God created.

Hopefully I can get some more snow pictures tomorrow. When it is not so late, and maybe a little brighter out.

(FYI...I finally caved and got myself a little card reader device. It seems to work...since these pictures were all loaded on my laptop!)

Only in Iowa.....

...can you go from a record high of 74 on Thursday, March 5, to snow and temps at least 32 degrees on Sunday, March 8.
It rained most of Saturday and part of Sunday....until about 11am. That is when it turned into little slush/ice pelts.
Then it eventually turned in to snow. And I'm not talking normal small flake size. I'm talking huge flakes! Bigger than I have seen in quite awhile. By the time I got brushed off to get in my vehicle, I was already covered in flakes again. They were big, wet, and coming down fast. Because the temps were between 32-34 degrees, it didn't stick very well. And it pretty much just turned in to slush.
If you look closely, you can see how big the flakes are on the windshield.

But, all in all, just another great day in Iowa!

Spring Time is Here...or Not.

It kind of looks like spring in my apartment. Or maybe it is just these flowers.

Thanks Gina and Jay for my flowers! (Mom said they were from you...since there was no name on the card.) They make it look like spring in my apartment. Until I look outside and see this....

(This picture is technically outside my office door, taken at 4pm today. But you get the idea.) Earlier this week we had weather that melted all the snow we had (except for the big piles of snow from clearing parking lots, etc), with temps at least in the 40s, with a scare of potential flooding due to all the melting of snow and thawing of ice. Now we are in a winter storm warning again.

The joy of living in Iowa!! You never know what weather will blow in next!

-21

Yup....that's right. You are reading it right. The thermometer in my ride said -21 this morning. And some parts of Iowa were actually colder than this.

Yes, I know it is Iowa. I know we should be expecting this cold weather. But when we have temps below -20, with a wind chills that could get to -50, why can't we all just stay home?

Because of the low temps, basically every school in the state is closed today. Not just because of the risks of the kids, but also because of the diesel buses. Diesel and extremely cold temps don't mix well. Many of the buses would probably gel up.

My brother attempted to make a delivery this morning for work, but his semi gelled up on him. He sure didn't get too far, stinkin' cold! Good thing for dad and a friend, they were able to tow the rig to the farm and to the plant.

I will be the first to admit that I love snow! There just comes a point where I don't love it so much if it comes with temps that are too cold to stand. If we could have weather in the mid-20s with this snow, now that would be perfect.

So until that happens, I will learn to start my ride about 15 minutes before I'm ready to leave for work (because 10 minutes today didn't do any good), I'll keep wearing my boots to work and slippers around the office, and I'll keep my heat turned up to about 64 or 65 in my apartment (which I usually have at 60-62).

Stay warm out there!

Hey Baby, It's FREEZING Cold Outside!

Nothing like some good ole Iowa weather to start off the week. We had a nice pile of snow fall yesterday. As happened a few weeks ago, MANY schools let out early in anticipation for the blizzard that was suppose to come through. It did snow in the morning, and was looking like it was the right move. But shortly around noon, it was nice out! The sun was shining, it was about 30 degrees, it quit snowing, and there wasn't much wind. And about an hour to an hour and half later, many schools let out, as originally planned earlier in the day.
I'm guessing kids had a fantastic time playing outside in the snow while it was nice and the temps were safe for it. By the end of the work day, walking to my vehicle was a struggle against the wind. The temps dropped, and the wind was between 25-30 or so miles per hour. Nothing like having your eyes tear up due to the winds, then freeze to your face because it is freezing out.
This morning, the temp when I started was about -10, and I think it warmed up a whole degree, to -9 by the time I got to work. My ride had a chilly start, which I don't think it enjoyed. We also have a wind chill advisory today, taking temps to -20- -30. Burr. That's just stinkin' cold!
Tonight we go into another winter weather advisory, due to more snow that should be falling!
I'm loving all of this snow! I just wish it wasn't so cold. Hopefully I'll get some snowmobile time in this weekend. But, I guess this is one of the joys of living in Iowa. You never know what weather will blow in. And it keeps the weather folks on their toes!
Someday I hope to get some pictures of the snow. But in the morning, it's just too cold and the sun is barely rising. By the time I get home from work, it's dark. But I'll see what I can do.
In the mean time, enjoy the snow and cold or sun and warmth!