After the snow, clear skies prevailed and a deep, icy chill set in. Snow has the capacity to reflect a large amount of the sun’s light that falls on it. Newly formed snow reflects about 90% of the sunlight that falls upon it. The nuclear furnace that warms our planet and provides the three basic necessities of life on earth (food, water, and oxygen), is nearly powerless when it comes to melting clean snow.
After a few days the snow turned to ice, that slippery, mysterious solid. Scientists continue to debate why ice is slippery. For those of us attempting to traverse it, the important thing to know is that it is slippery, not necessarily why.
Just as the ice begins to clear, another round of snow arrives, painting the ground white, frosting the leafless trees in the yard. Three more inches, but they wouldn't last a day. That night brought warmer weather and rain instead of snow; by morning only the drifts against the fences remained.
The chickens have returned to being early birds, the heat lamp no longer provides a constant yellow-orange glow in the coop and the cats are venturing out again. Cabin fever has been abated. Life is good.
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