Week 11 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 71

Signs of an on again/off again winter. Or should I say fickle spring? The snow plows and road graders were up and down roads almost constantly for ten days. I caught this grader at rest beside piles of road top (we do not use salt) for the plows. It was a sunny day and the snow was melting on its own.

Day 72

We call it mud and flood season. Some of the new folk haven't come to realize that snow tires are also mud tires. And the snow is easier. I try to get out on my rounds of pet clients before ten so the mud is frozen. But sometimes I forget how really slippery our mud is. And as a friend pointed out, it has no bottom like snow.

Day 73

I tried to walk out through the snow to get a closer view of the cat tails but beneath the snow was mud. Cat tails, I am reminded, grow in marsh and around streams. The marsh below these was not frozen. Spring can be a dangerous time. I worry about my dogs around ponds that are beginning to thaw. I have tried to teach them to not even walk on the ice in the middle of winter.

Day 74

Even the plows and graders need chains. I understand these weigh about 100 pound each. These were I believe partly plastic because the side chains were blue. Even in black and white you can see the difference in the material. I guess the plastic is to make them lighter. Someone after all has to lift them from the hooks where they hang to the tire to fit them on. There is usually someone in a county pickup around tending to the graders. BTW they can get stuck in the unfrozen ground beneath the snow they are moving around.

Day 75

Another danger of spring is falling snow and ice. Sitting in my house I can hear the bombs falling as the sun warms up the collected snow on the roof. We have worked so hard at insulation to prevent escaping heat we forget that is is a warm roof which allows the snow to slide off. All snow melts at the bottom first whether on the ground or your house. Ergo the ice cycles.

Day 76

Snow can fall from the trees as you walk through the forest. In an aspen forest less snow to fall but walking under Ponderosas and lodge pole pines can be dangerous. I seem to remember a short story about that. Spring snows are heavy because of the increased moisture.

Day 77

It has been raining all night and melting what remains of the snow. The streams are full from snow melt and the ground saturated. It is suppose to get cold enough for the rain to become snow tonight. Ahhhh, spring.