SNOW!

When I got back from Colorado, I wasn't sure what to expect. While I was gone, La Crosse had its largest snowfall in its history. For the week I was gone, over 28 inches of snow fell in La Crosse; 21 inches in just one snow storm alone.

Fortunately, I had hired someone to shovel my sidewalk and driveway before I left. The above scene is what greeted me on my return (about 10 days of melting after the initial snowstorm.) I was glad to be able to get to my garage and into my house. Of course digging my car out of the open air parking lot at the airport was a different story entirely. I borrowed a shovel from the tarmac crew and tried to clear the snow from around the wheels. Eventually a good samaritan with a tow rope helped me out of the drifts that had formed up to the window sills of my car.

Later that week I took a few back country drives around the local region just to see the impressive displays of deep snow. I just love to see a winter wood full of snow. The above photo is from Great River State Park just across the river from La Crosse. Note that the snow is still as deep as the picnic tables after about two weeks of melting. Snow shoes were definitely needed to get around.

The above photo was shot in the tiny village of Pickwick, MN near where the most snow fell from the storms. This unlucky family's vehicles are still buried two weeks after the fact. This photo also gives an idea of what my vehicle looked like at the airport. (I didn't get a photo of it at the time.)

It has since been quite warm (up to 83 degrees for two days in a row). However just in the last couple of days has the snow entirely melted from some of the larger drifts around town. It took over three weeks of above freezing temperatures for my own yard to be bare again. Now all my spring bulbs that I planted last autumn are coming up fast. And believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to spring this year.