OK I'm Wrong – It is NOT Spring!

OK I'm Wrong - It is NOT Spring!

That cheery article I wrote yesterday about balmy spring weather was just a mite premature. An unexpected low came out of the northeast and the day ended cloudy and windy. It definitely is not spring!

In fact we are having a blizzard with light powdery snow that would be great for skiing. I discovered it was raining when I let Smokey out before dawn and he came back inside wet. A couple of hours later rain turned to snow. It didn't seem cold enough for snow, but there it was. It's been snowing with increasing strength and blowing dry snow all day. I just got back inside from sweeping off my TV dish, and feeding Zeke the coyote who comes by for supper almost every evening, and I had to stomp through snow at least 6 inches deep and it is getting deeper fast. I don't think I am going to be able to drive out of here for another day or two. I don't need anything as long as the electricity doesn't go out. Even then I still would have the phone. I have an oil lamp and a lantern ready to light if needed. The weatherman just said I-8 about two miles away is closed through the pass, and it is snowing down to about 2000 feet to the west.

There was a blizzard in San Diego's Mountain Empire back in the 1880s when it snowed 4 feet on the level with 20 foot drifts or deeper in higher areas. Ranchers at that time raised mostly sheep, and whole herds of sheep smothered in the snow. Most ranchers switched to cattle right afterward. The weatherman just said this storm will move out by tomorrow afternoon and the sun will come out again. The snow won't last long after that.

It has been a long time since I have had to shovel snow. We have had as much as 6 inches in other years, but it has always melted away the same day.

It seems strange being alone here with all my cats and dogs. My daughter moved last week and doesn't have her phone hooked up yet. We keep in touch by e-mail. At least the Dish network guy came today just as he promised he would, and hooked up her TV. Her house is well insulated and stays warm. Her rescued pit bull, Sheba, and her two remaining mixed breed offspring are sheltered on an enclosed back porch, and the other rescued dogs and the cats are inside all snug and warm. And my daughter is back at work doing medical transcription to pay the bills as she watches the snowstorm blowing across I-8 in the broad valley below her. Snow is beautiful when you know it will go away the next day and spring will return again - I hope!