In which we discover snow
This is the first snow that Lindsey really has had to deal with. We actually got 5 or 6 inches a weeke ago, but I didn't see him then. Something about being told by Authorities That Know to stay off the roads. Spinning the van out on ice a couple years ago makes me inclined to obey.
Now it is all melting. This is normal, which is why no one really plows road here. By the time they find the equipment and figure out that it is working, a Chinook wind comes through, raised the temperature 30 degrees (15 on the Celsius scale) and everything melts. Plus we tend to get dry snow, so the cars just blow it off the road.
This snow, however, was slightly exceptional. It only warmed up to just above freezing (10 or 5 degrees, depending on how you measure it), and then it started precipitating again. I walked about a half mile to meet my daughter. It took me an hour to make the round trip, and I had icicles in my hair. Plus the snow was not being blown off the road for passing cars, so it turned into ice. Nasty.
But a chinook really came through and melted almost everything, and Lindsey had to deal with about an inch of snow. He loved stomping it, he loved running in it. If there was a patch of snow that didn't have footprints, he had to fix that. He expanded his vocabulary (which now includes important things like Aunt Connie, Grandpa and snickerdoodles). He refused to stand still for a photo op.
He discovered that snow is cold. (This is something a lot of our warm weather exchange students don't discover until after they have jumped into it. Sure they know that water freezes at 32 degrees and their winters have a normal low of, say 55. But now that knowledge is experiential.)
He also discovered that snow is slippery, especially when the air temperature is about 50 F. After falling on his tush the third time, I told him to wait for me. We walked (he slid) over to safer snow. Then he ran right back onto a different patch of slippery snow and promptly experienced the same fundamental forces of friction and gravity. This time he looked at time and said "Grandma, hand!"
Fast learner, that one!
We also discovered holes in a dead tree stump. These are homes for solitary bees (at this time of year, their eggs more likely) which are great polinators. So it stays right where it is.
posted by Marion @ 1:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home