First Snow-Fall 2009

The First Snow-Fall
By James Russell Lowell

THE SNOW had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

You can read the whole poem here.

Our snow didn’t exactly begin in the gloaming. And it isn't the first snow-fall this winter, but the first snow-fall didn't amount to much. But it is the first snow of 2009!

The first flakes fell in mid-morning and then stopped until mid-afternoon. By 4:00 PM, snow poured. In the picture below, we had over an inch.


When we fed horses at 4:30, the snow was blowing sideways. The horses were covered. Cupcake looked like a pinto.


Melody was pretty well covered, too.


The horses' view of the snow looked like this:


In the adjoining kennel, Maggie was covered. Snow is border collie weather!


Later yesterday, the snow blew hard during the gloaming:


Last night, a little critter left tracks on the deck.


This morning's gloaming revealed at least six inches had fallen. My boxwoods near the front porch were almost buried.


The deck rail shows how deep the snow was.


The cats weren't too keen on going out. Eddie-Puss wasn't sure what that white stuff was, but he gave it a try—for about two minutes.


I didn't venture out. John volunteered to feed the critters.



From a later stanza of "The First Snow-Fall":

I stood and watched by the window
The noiseless work of the sky,
And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.

A lot of birds can't understand what happened to their free lunch. They perch in the crape myrtle and stare at the house. A few of the smarter ones figured out that I had put some seed on the window sills. Camilla sat and watched by the window.


Our power has gone off momentarily a few times. The wind is getting up. If we lose power, we'll make do.

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