Perpetual Ruminations

The Ides of March

Yeah, I know what the ides of March are, but this is my story about the ides of March. This year they came as a winter storm watch. Or at least they started out as such. Late last night they transformed into a blizzard warning, high winds (gusting to 60 mph) a coating to a quarter inch of ice, and up to a foot of snow through this evening.

When I went to bed early this morning (about 2:00 a.m.) the wind had picked up considerably, and the temperature had dropped just below freezing, but no precipitation had fallen.

This morning when I woke around nine, spring had sprung the scene and winter had returned in a fury. The world was again white; yes the world, or at least what I could see of it. Snow covered everything and was dropping like a thick, white, velvet curtain. As the wind blew the curtain of snow thickened and I couldn't see much past the garage, almost white out conditions. The storm didn't rage on through the day as it was predicted to do, it blew itself out around one this afternoon, leaving in its wake about six inches of snow over the very thin coating of ice that formed at the start of the storm.

Knowing it could get severe, we were stocked up and ready. We don't have to go outside the house except to let the dogs out (who are loving the new snow, especially Max). According to the forecast, spring should return by Monday and the snow will vanish quickly; it will, however, provide us another batch of mud.

I thought I saw someone walking a large dog in the backyard during the storm and took a picture. In looking at it, I don't think it's a person, and that's definitely not a dog. Just another typical Minnesota spring.