Windy, Windy Day……

Yesterday we had wind and more wind plus a little snow.  The wind was blowing 30 to 40 mph for 24 hours so the snow that fell blew into drifts.  We ended up with only 1-2” of snow but it was hard to tell as some areas were swept clean by the winds and others drifted tall.  This drift behind our house is a little taller this morning than this photo I took yesterday about 4:00 pm.  It is now taller than the top rail of the small back deck which is a little over 5 feet.

This drift can just sit until it melts but there is a 3 foot drift on the deck to our south door that has to be scooped off.  Since I can’t  do any scooping John has had to clean it off by himself, plus clean the drift away from the garage door.  These drifts are very solid and hard so are not easy to scoop.  The sidewalks are pretty clean  as the wind blew them clear so that job won’t have to be done today anyway.  He will have to get the tractor and loader to clean a drift that is blocking our driveway but again there are not too many for him do. 

We woke to the sound of quiet  and sunshine this morning and it was so nice after that horrible wind blowing for over 24 hours.  There is something about the sound of wind that could very easily drive me crazy.  I often think of the pioneer women that did go crazy after days and days of the wind here on the prairie.   I am thinking I would be one of them.  They didn’t have the distractions of the computer, TV or phone like we do.  I sometimes get out my ear plugs and wear them when I sleep at night when we have strong winds just to block out that sound!

Besides the wind we have really cold temperatures here in Nebraska.  This morning at 8 am it was –4F ( –20 C)and yesterday it was cold plus the wind so the wind chill temperatures were dangerous.  John did not spend a lot of time outside but had to take care of the animals morning and night though.

The photos below were taken from my kitchen window about 4 pm yesterday.  I have a Climantis  vine just north of that window and the leaves stay on all winter so it offers some protection for the birds that want to find shelter there.  I had to use my step stool to see them and get the photo – was really careful not to fall or lose my balance though.  The photo is a little out of focus looking because of two reasons….one being the snow was blowing when I shot it and they other was that I took the photos through the window and screen. 

 

The red arrows point to 3 of the sparrows that were hunkered down out of the wind.  At times I could see 7 or 8 from my perch leaning over the sink to see them.  They were so amusing to watch as when a new bird would fly in and try to sit next to another one there would be a fight of sorts and the new arrival would have to pick a new spot as I guess they didn’t want to share or snuggle.  I would have thought that if they huddled up they would have stayed warmer but obviously they didn’t feel that way.

Here’s to warmer weather again….

Lynn