Tempête de neige

Today we are having what is the biggest "snowstorm" we have had here over the past three winters. We figure we have about three inches of snow on the ground right now, and it is still snowing. And wouldn't you know it? I need to go out this afternoon. I absolutely have to go to the pharmacy in Saint-Aignan. I'm waiting to see if they come put some sand or salt on the road. The hill from the main road, down in the river valley, up to our house is pretty steep. I can always drive around through town and come in the back way, on the gravel road through the vineyard, if the paved road is too slippery. But it's been many years since I've had to deal with this much snow.

I did live in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, back in the 1970s. Those winters were something to see, especially in 1977, '78, and '79. We lived through snows two feet deep and temperatures in the minus twenties fahrenheit. And then I lived in Washington, DC, where in 1983 we had nearly 20 inches of snow overnight in February. But back then I had a four-wheel drive car. Walt is from Albany, NY, so he has seen his share of snowstorms too. But after living in the San Francisco area for almost 20 years, and now here for about three, we are out of practice. The snow is exciting, but it doesn't take much to remind you how much trouble it is to cope with it.

The back yard on this snowy day.

Our hedge and the neighbors' house across the road.

View of a white landscape from the kitchen window.

Geraniums blooming on the front porch against a a snowy background.

Yesterday, before the snow fell, I put some bread crumbs out
on the ground for the birds. The crumbs are buried under snow
now, but the birds are out there pecking at them anyway.