S**w in the desert!

Oh man, when it rains it pours or when it snows it really snows. The meteorologists had been warning about this first big winter storm for several days and we waited--not a lot of wind and no precipitation although it got cloudy and gradually chillier. Well, finally it came, not all bark and no bite at all. The white stuff began to fall about eleven or so last evening. One could feel it coming--the chill damp wind and a kind of oppressive weight in the air. A bit like an impending summer thunderstorm only different. I suppose mostly a subtle change in the barometric pressure. We knew, anyway but still it was a surprise of sorts. Perhaps the most snow we have seen here as we begin our third winter.

At any rate, the last time the dogs were out before bedtime there were tiny stinging flakes or bits flying in a light but chill breeze. I wasn't expecting a lot but we woke today to about 2.5 to 3 inches of white stuff on the ground. Yes, even a desert rat has to admit it was pretty before the fluffy clean blanket was marred as the day wore on. I sat in my big chair by the picture window in the front room and watched as it still fell a bit until mid-morning.

The dogs had various reactions. Kaycee and Beebee, the two Heelers knew the drill from their earlier days in Colorado. They ran around and rooted in it a bit but were glad to come in quickly. Poor little Rojito drags his little tummy in the cold white stuff and was quick to do his business and scoot back in. Ginger is still puppy enough to leap and bound through it, be amazed when I threw her ball and it disappeared into the white blanket, and beg me to go walking which I declined to do! I told her mama does not do cold wet mornings! A bit later I had to laugh though as she paced and circled to beat down a spot before she would squat and do her business so she did not get her heinie wet!

Although the sun has not come out today and is now down at 5:40 MST, the roads have melted and more or less dried and even the sidewalks are mostly clear. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to be out most of the day and much of it will be gone before day's end I am sure. That's fine. I will call this a Yuletide preview and be quite content if we see no more the rest of the winter although that is probably not likely. Right now it is hard to tell what the season will hold. This was a bit early but then it hit the whole southwest hard and was a big and dangerous storm. I understand Arizona got mostly rain  except up in my old college-years home of Flagstaff and the main I-40 corridor and along the Mogollon Rim.  However, New Mexico got snow over about 99% of the state from a foot or more in the northern mountains to enough to snarl traffic and cause problems clear down to near the border.

Friends who like the wintery weather would have loved it so I will share these pictures for their sake. The rest of you, well, yes, as I said, it was pretty! Now it is muddied and tracked and far from pristine but new snow has a beauty. And I always note the quiet, how silent it seems when snow is falling. Roughed out a quick verse on that:

Silence of Snow
It's so quiet when it snows,
Muffling all in frosty down.
Painting over scar and stain
a fluffy frothy bridal gown.

It's so quiet when it snows.
Frosty feathers float around,
Wrapping, covering, blanketing,
Dampening all trace of sound.

It's so quiet when it snows.
Looks so soft but feels so hard,
Sharp and cold and bitter-clean,
For this moment, all unmarred.