Dressed in snow
Nearly four days after the snowfall, our yard still looks like this.
March 1, 2015, Yorktown Virginia
“It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice..” ― Markus Zusak
Just when I thought we were in for a fairly mild winter, February happened. And happened again, and again. Not just in the DC area, but also near our York home, near your home (probably) and near the homes of seemingly most of the people I know. Facebook was showered with “Winter Wonderland” collages, each more enchanting than the last. Currier and Ives had a digital update.
One great thing about this late-winter snow, at least in southeastern Virginia, is that it lingered so long that the kids had a chance to really have fun with it. Normally when we do get a snowfall, it’s gone in a day or two. This one was deep (around 8 inches) and the weather was cold enough to ensure that the snow didn’t disappear before yielding to the creativity of our neighbors.
I’m sure we’re all ready for springtime, but I must admit it was rather fun to have March come in like a lion this year. If the “out like a lamb” phase holds this much beauty, we have a real treat in store.
Along with the king of the snow castle…
…and a traffic snow-cop…
…there were fashionable snow-ladies…
…and dapper snow-gents.
Some were clearly dreaming of warmer days…
…and summer pastimes.
Some were well-prepared…
…and some had “fallen and couldn’t get up!!”
Plenty of us lost our heads and joined in the fun.
Eric & Sherry created this low-carb snow person…
…at their mountain home in north Georgia.
Meanwhile, Carla and George enjoyed the snow at their Alabama homes…
…and so did their grandchildren!
I guess we’d all better get back to work now…
it was fun while it lasted!
Defeat Despair 
Wonderful collection of snowmen. It’s been a tough winter and more on the way here. More snow and falling temperatures, again. Sigh!
I appreciate being in touch with our Canadian neighbors to give me some perspective about our snow here. Here’s wishing you lots of cozy times with friends, family, art and steaming hot mugs — and comfort in hoping that spring will surely be coming SOON! Snuggle up and stay warm! 😀
Looks like lots of fun! ♥
M, it was fun…and the best thing about it was when Jeff came in and offered to drive me around the block to see all the cute snowmen he had seen coming back from the grocery store (where he said the shelves were practically picked clean 😀 ). Hope all is well in your world. Shine on!
What a delightful tour of the friendly snowpeople! Your comments made is special! We have a family, that became family when we adopted each other in 1985, while they lived in CA. We visited them in Odenton, MD several years ago. There was lots of snow, so we were outside clearing the driveway. One of our adopted granddaughters went to borrow another snow shovel next door. The neighbor was surprised that we were outside in the cold, with snow falling. She told them their grandmother was here from CA. So they got to know the “Goofy”, fun-loving lady. We had a blast!!! They said the neighbors were still puzzled for days about our stint outside! FUN! Does Matt like to play in it? Please, get us a pix of him, if it’s ok w/ him.
Did you get the photo of our apricot tree in the backyard? Just about in FULL bloom already!
Mary Ann, yes I did get the photo, and it’s gorgeous. I don’t think I had ever seen apricot blooms before. For some reason they reminded me of the cannonball blooms we saw in Barbados. Are you able to eat the fruit? Our neighbor’s fruit trees (from which he ate NOTHING and encouraged us to pick as much as we wanted, since that just created more fruit) are among the things I miss most about California — you know, that list that your name is near the top of! 😀
Mary Ann, I can just hear those people saying “It must be true that California is more fun…” Matt loved snow the few times he saw it as a kid, when it was relatively light and easily manageable. His balance isn’t good enough to make it practical for him to go out and play in it, though. Mostly I think he enjoys getting a snow day to stay home and relax. He has never been very fond of anything cold — doesn’t even like to eat popsicles. So he’s happy to stay cozy indoors with us older folks. Hope you are doing well and feeling thankful NOT to have the sort of repetitive snow we’re getting here — MORE headed this way, according to weather reports. Amazing!
We still have snow sliding in big piles around the house from our metal roof! Not expecting it to stay long with our temps reaching to almost 60 today. But, it sure was a surprise last evening, as I stepped out the front door and was greeted by a small avalanche of snow as it fell onto our steps from the roof of the porch! I almost became a snow woman had I been a few seconds faster out the door!!
Stay safe and warm,
Sherry
WOW, that can be dangerous! I guess that metal roof creates a natural slide for melting snow. Tell Eric to give the crows some plastic lids to go sledding as they did in that YouTube video. Our Alexandria townhome has a barn-style Mansard roof and I was quite startled the other day to hear a loud cracking sound while I was outside, then another. It took me quite awhile to realize it was ice and snow dropping from the steep surface to the ground. I made a mental note not to linger under the gutters. You already have 60 degree temps? I’m envious. It’s still COLD up here, with more snow supposedly on the way. Earl Grey time! 😀
Great photos, Julia. Snow does have another side besides the shovel. It does make for various opportunities for fun.
-Alan
Alan, I imagine that skiing, ice skating and sledding are all popular pastimes in your state. You can tell our neighborhood was pretty excited to be seeing so much of the snow. I couldn’t help but wonder whether people make a lot of snowmen in a climate where snow is an everyday thing. I do remember making a snowman with Drew when he was a toddler, but that was our first year in Ohio, before the snow become something to get tired of. Along about March I would start missing being able to see the ground! But it is beautiful, no doubt about it. Hope you are staying snug and warm.
I’m hanging in there, Julia; with an eye on spring.
-Alan
Alan, despite predictions for this week to the contrary, I just know warmer times are on the way. My mother just told me they have a cold front coming to Georgia, but today it’s 71 degrees there. There is a teeny tiny light shining through the clouds!
At 55, you’d think I would be over the sheer joy of seeing it snow in the deep south, throwing a pretty good chunker at the 17 year old boy, reveling in the euphoria of cancellations at work and school and elsewhere as when I was schoolboy. You’d be wrong!
Jack, I’m happy to hear you have not outgrown fun. Is there anything more exciting to a southern kid than a snowfall? I can remember in elementary school when some kid would glance out the window and suddenly shout “Hey, it’s SNOWING!” and chaos would break out, with 28 noses pressed to the glass, and the teacher patiently reciting the winter mantra “get back in your seats, you have all seen snow before.” One year a student who had just moved from Florida answered, “I haven’t!” and the teacher let her sit by the window and look out. 😀 Sometimes I think the school and government officials are secretly as excited as the rest of us to call a halt to the normal routine. There’s something undeniably festive about late-night TV news announcing closures for the next morning. For me it means sleeping later and lingering over my morning tea.
I got up early in Chicago, Christmas morning, 1989- how nice – a beautiful blanket of snow. But, it wasn’t until after airborne on a flight to New Orleans that I discovered almost the entire U.S. had a white Christmas! The solid snow cover of the ground did not end till about 50 miles north of Baton Rouge. I learned later that even Jacksonville, Florida had snow on the ground! Some winters are exceptional.
I bet that was a really beautiful sight, to see the snow stretching on for miles and miles — and on Christmas! And in Florida! To this day I have never awoken to snow on Christmas morning, not even in Ohio. I think this winter seems exceptional in the sense of having so MUCH snow so late. We are supposed to be getting even more of it this week! Hope it makes for a nice green lawn and well-watered springtime foliage and blooms.
Yes! The increased nitrogen content of snow, compared to rain, is amazing. Though most translations say “storehouses of the snow”, the King James Version renders the phrase in Job 38:22 “the treasures of the snow”. There have always been hidden benefits!
Eric, you first introduced us to the benefits of snow for plants in a comment a couple of years ago on this blog. Since that time, I have read about it at this site and elsewhere, from sources both highly technical and folksy. Accordingly, I have been shoveling snow from our driveway onto our lawns and shrubs, and also bringing snow inside to place around our plants indoors, many of which I brought in for the winter. As you might expect, they were looking dry and droopy after a winter of exposure to the indoor heat running from the floor vents. I have been amazed at how rejuvenated they look after my watering them with snow for several days. Of course, I would never argue about such a matter with someone who majored in biology at Georgia Tech, but I have still been tickled pink at how obviously true it is that snow is the “poor man’s fertilizer.” Thanks for enlightening me on that topic!
I love all the pictures of snow-people! Thanks for sharing them! The people in your neighborhood are so creative! It makes me wish we’d had more than a dusting here. I’m so curious to know what Grady would think of it!
Megan, I couldn’t help but wish Grady could be here to see all the fun. I think he would LOVE the snow once he figured out how to make snowballs. He’s so active at this age that I can just picture him rolling around and having a blast. He would totally get into riding on a sled or snow disc, I think. Next year we can send him our copy of Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day, which I have been saving for him. ❤
What a fun, fun post!! I love the traffic cop! I’m so glad you were able to enjoy the snow. I’ve loved it, too :-0
LB, I loved the gorgeous photos of the snow at your home, and I thought of the “to shovel or not to shovel” debate on your FB page as I was (partially) shoveling our walkways and driveway this week. Something about snow just seems to go perfectly with mountains. You’re lucky to have such a beautiful backdrop for winter.
Julia, what fun and such clever creations! Snow really brings out the kid in us, building snowmen, making snow angels, and throwing snowballs. Oh my, makes me so excited!⛄️❄️ Eric and Sherry have a winter wonderland setting, don’t they? I love Carla’s Gator! I think Jack needs one of those. Thank you so much for your card, the update, and the cup of tea! I sent an email so you would know about Bill’s surgery yesterday. Our lives are parallel again! I’ll continue to say a special prayer and also feel the blessing of knowing such a special family. 🙏 Love, Sheila
Sheila, as kid I don’t remember ever having snow deep enough to make a snow angel as impressive as the one in The Snowy Day, though I thought that must be the most fun thing to do. I remember Mama making “snow cream” from the very clean snow on the top of our porch roof. So many magical memories of snow, even though the times I saw it were very few. Yes, that Gator is a blast. I wouldn’t mind having one just for riding around, though they have enough land that it really does come in handy for practical tasks. I have been praying for you and Bill during this hospital time. Hope he is feeling better than ever very soon. Thanks for keeping me posted. Love & hugs!
As a true Southerner, all I can say is you’re all crazy😀😀😀😀. It’s nice to watch snow fall but only if it’s gone the next day!
Ann, we can speak Southern fluently around here, so you should feel free to use the more correct “All y’all are crazy” or even “all y’all are crazy as a screen door in a submarine” or similar Southern eloquence. I agree that snow loses its charm when it has been raked into dirty piles and turns into a slushy mess. Perhaps we all would enjoy living in Camelot, where “the Crown has made it clear” that “the rain may never fall til after sundown.” Even there, though, “the winter is forbidden till December, and exits March the second, on the dot.” 😀 TIME’S UP! Bring on the SPRING! (quotes taken from Lerner and Lowe as immortalized by Richard Burton)
Happy to note that you spelled y’all correctly🎉
Yes, we speak fluent Southern here, and Yankee grammatical errors are as scarce as hen’s teeth on this blog. I’m fixin to make myself another cup of tea. I’m nearabout frozen from all this snow.
Reblogged this on SimplySage and commented:
Hello my friends,
February found me in quite perplexing predicaments. This is a good news, bad news, good news post. First the good news: the arrival a new grandson. 😊
Next the bad news: the massive attack on my body of a flu, the likes of which I never knew existed! At least twice I thought I would be added to the statistics of those who did not survive. For real.
But I’m now into my second week of recovery, antibiotics and such. Yes, I was the wonderful recipient of all that follow-up respiratory gunk, the details of which I will spare. But I finally turned the corner. Hence, good news again. Yes!
I look forward to holding that sweet grand soon! (And helping my tired daughter!) Many thanks to Daddy and all the friends and other family who stepped in to help! And kept me brimming with homemade soups!
I finally emerged from the quarantine and returned to a post in progress but it’s still simmering on the back-burner (i.e. not done). In the meantime, since blog reading is such wonderful company during convalescence, I couldn’t help but share Julia’s post about snowmen. It brought laughter and a huge smile. Great medicine for me! I think you’ll agree! Her blog is called “Defeat Despair”.
EnJoy!
And I’ll be back soon!
Alexandria
Alexandria, thanks so much for sharing my post! I’m so sorry to learn of your recent illness, but happy that you have been blessed with soup, supportive love, and a new grandson! I hope that this springtime blooms with happiness for you and yours. Thanks again.
Have to say, I loved those snowmen and that John Deere!
I’m so happy you enjoyed them as much as I did!
Wonderful, Julia! I had to reblog!
Thank you so much, Alexandria! I am always honored when people share what I write. Thanks for being here with us.
Reblogged this on Gr8fullsoul.
Thank you! I am so happy you liked it.