Rough Weather

We've had a tough winter, for a change. I've actually had to wear my cold-weather gear a lot this year. In the past few weeks we've had really grinding cold, snow, sleet. And the most recent couple of days we've had to deal with delivering mail in freezing rain. There aren't a lot of things more miserable than having to deliver mail in the freezing rain.

Today, on my route, I found this note clipped to a mailbox as I walked from house to house. It was nice to read.

I clipped the name out for privacy.

Spring!

I know we still have some official Winter to slog through...but the trees think it's Spring!

One a street on my route. Two days ago.

Backpacking Weather

When I'm backpacking I often enjoy the weather, even when it's "bad". Too much rain can become a real drag, but most of the time any kind of weather is just part of the journey. I don't mind the tougher parts to enjoy the solitude that comes with the long walks through the wilderness.

Flash photo of my favorite backpacking tent (MSR Hubba). I suspected it would snow during the night, and it did.

I love waking up in the morning to fresh snow when I'm backpacking.

At another campsite (the night before the one above). First it was lightly raining after I'd got my tent set up. Then the temperature dropped and it began to sleet. Some minutes after that it became all snow. Then it warmed up, the clouds broke, and the sun was out.

Just a short stroll from my tent.

Skies of Blue

Today is my birthday. I am 55 years old!


The previous two days we had a cold front move through. The cool air squeezed all of the humidity out of the atmosphere Monday night and I was lulled to sleep by the sound of thunder and the drum of rain against the bedroom windows. And so when I awoke on Tuesday the sky was cobalt blue and the air was cool and dry. I don't think it cracked much over 80 degrees that day. Walking was a wonder.

Blue Sky over Montana, two years ago.

And I was able to look up at that blue sky for two solid days. And that's the point--the sky was blue. And I don't mean clear, but blue. Most people I talk to don't understand that our sky is supposed to be blue. Some of them even think that metallic gray photochemical haze that we live with is "blue". It isn't. For two days we had the kind of sky Mother Nature intended us to have. Before we wrecked the Heavens with smog.

But when I go back to work tomorrow I'll be dealing with triple-digit temperatures, and I can guarantee that the sky will not be blue, no matter the cloud cover. The sky will be a metallic gray, and few will acknowledge that something is terribly amiss.

What passes for "blue sky" here in the eastern USA.