Two of my favorite songs have that title, but that is not what I am referring to in this instance. Nope, in this case, it is the way I feel about the snow that is falling. I need not explain the “sweet” side of things. The “bitter” comes from the fact that this winter has not been the most prolific snow producer. If you remove the runs of a few days in mid-January and the first 2 weeks of February, this winter could go down as the one that never came. Then toss in the fact that temps this past week were warm enough to do some meaningful melting. Another is the fact that we are entering into the time of the year when the suns rays are strong enough to do some melting even when the temps are below freezing and the skies are overcast. All of that combines to put me in a situation with around a foot of snow on the ground and a forecast that starting Tuesday will see temps above freezing for highs and even some sun, spells a continued shrinking of the snowpack to a level that might even begin to allow for some bare spots to begin to appear.
So I was getting into the mindset that we may as well be done with this disappointment of a winter. I am well aware that there is A LOT more snow in all other areas of the Keweenaw and that this snow will go a long way to freshening up things for snow play. Even with the weather this week, the new snow will likely hold up OK, as the traffic that the snowmobile and ski trails see beginning in a typical March is much lower. So for the areas that still have a rather abundant snow cover, it will be more sweet than bitter, but for me and our locale, more bitter than it’s sweet. That is actually a line from one of the 2 songs called Bittersweet that I like.
Even though I consider the snow currently falling bittersweet, I do still love to see it snow and the trees become all flocked in snow again. Such is the case as I write this. Here is the current look from the AL Cam. This past Wednesday morning we picked up a couple of inches of snow. It stuck to everything, just like the current snow is and it always amazes me how a coating of snow on something a mundane as a bare cherry tree can transform it to a thing of beauty.
This past Friday treated the somewhat early risers to quite the show. Normally our red skies happen in the late summer and autumn, as the smoke from fires in western Canada or the western US drift overhead and produce the yellows, oranges, reds and even violets. Such was the case this past Friday morning. Here is an image Nora took from her office window of the sunrise. I’ve said it dozens of times in my entries through the years, but this place truly abounds with beauty. It would be hard to go a day without seeing something to marvel at. I really have no idea how I became so blessed to call this area home and to have such a beautiful family to share it with.
Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD
