On Friday we had a snow squall which was in and out within a few hours. It was very weird. I got a snow alert on my phone even though no one was expecting snow for another two days, and it was quite a gorgeous winter morning to be honest. Blue skies, a few clouds.
I've never witnessed a squall before and it's very cool that I got to do so from within my home and not stuck on the highway or in public.
I was so confused so I looked outside and it was still gorgeous. Within 2 minutes I checked again and the ground was covered in snow. The work vehicles in the parking lot were all packing up to leave, even the ones that just got there. Within another minute, the sky was entirely dark and winds were picking up.
It didn't take long before the wind was so loud I couldn't find Zenny, my cat, who usually approaches severe weather cautiously, but doesn't hide. I took a few pictures with my phone through the window, the texture of the snow looks interesting. I wish I had gone out and touched it, oh well.
I wasn't feeling well so I fell asleep (it was hard not to, the winds were comforting and I had a big blanket) and when I woke up a few hours later, the neighborhood was covered in a layer of white. Snow was still falling lightly but the winds were gone. Before dark it stopped and almost all of it melted away by noon the next day.
Very dramatic.
Two days later we had that big snow storm that hit the US. I couldn't sleep Sunday night because I had been sleeping odd hours all weekend (due to being sick) and at midnight when I finally got into bed the skies were clear. Four hours later I was woken by the scrape of shoveling against my concrete porch, the maintenance people cleaning up for early risers who still have to go to work. There were a good 3 inches down already and the snow continued throughout Monday.
I like to take a walk in the snow on the first day of the storm but I had to compromise and wait until my body recovered a bit. When I got out today, there was still slush all over the neighborhood roads and desire path footprints replaced the sidewalks, except those well kept by higher community maintenance bills. The main street was pretty clear. On my walk to 7-11 to get Hershey's syrup and a bottle of water, I walked in deep and shallow snow, on completely clear sidewalks, and through slush- or snow-packed parking lots. I felt like total shit afterwards so maybe I pushed myself too hard, too early.
It was worth it, though. I can make snow day chocolate milk and rehydrate. I got to step through multiple textures of snow and compare the upkeep among surrounding neighborhoods. Success!
Zenny is ready for winter to end. She tried to run out once when I was watching the snowfall and immediately noped back into the house and onto her heated blanket in the bedroom. (I would have caught her had she not zoomed backwards so fast.)
I am excited that we got a nice snow storm, as inconvenient and awful as it is for a lot of people. I love snow. I have always loved snow. No amount of negativity towards snow will make me stop crushing so fucking hard on snow.
So anyway, this is a good week for me, despite being sick. When I got home I laid in bed for a bit before I had to get up for work and felt my body cycle through intense heat from coming into my air-blasting heated home after being in 25 degrees, sweaty and hot and cold at the same time after a walk... to noticeably, physically cold, to hot again, to feeling the weight of each sweat droplet on my body, to cozy and warm and okay. Altogether a weird experience. My body is extra sensitive to temperature changes and I don't always feel however you're supposed to feel, regardless of whether my skin is cold or warm to the touch. It's always been haywire, but it's weirdest in winter. Kind of cool to experience so many sensations at once, but also weird.
Here's some of my snow clothes on the floor after I shed them violently coming into the heat.
It's more work to share photos the early 2000s way vs social media but I think it's worth the effort. During my walk, I took these incredibly artistic and fascinating photos using the CampSnap screenless camera (I have the original version so none of the fancy features, but I'll probably get a newer one too).
You can't see what you took photos of and you have to plug it into something else to save the files somewhere. Just like the old days. It feels more intentional to take photos this way and they come out pre-filtered to look like they were taken with a disposable camera. I especially like that not every photo comes out. I had five that were just... black. Did I take a picture in my pocket or did I move the camera too fast after snapping because I am used to the instant timing of a smartphone snapshot? :) I will never know. I am also EXCEPTIONALLY good at including myself in the photos, like in this pre-cropped one:
