20 December 2012

Snow day(s)

 

Wisconsin is getting the brunt of a major winter storm deemed "life-threatening" by local authorities.  Not only are schools and businesses closed, but even the two major shopping malls (5 days before Christmas).  We were greeted this morning by a foot of snow on the ground, and it's supposed to continue until midnight tonight.

The conifer above, in front of our house, copes well with snow.  This snowfall is wet and heavy; it adheres to branches (like the dogwood in the foreground). The conifer just lets its branches sag until the snow eventually slides off. 


This birch tree had a harder time.  The weight of the snow has collapsed it over the top of the burning bush and across the sidewalk.  It's not entirely the birch's fault; some stupid humans planted it too close to a house, so it leaned out for more light, and in doing so took on a configuation that doomed it in this blizzard. 

Birches are very flexible, as any reader of Robert Frost will remember.  Whether this one will recover remains to be seen.  If not, I'll plan to harvest some birch water in the spring (see photo of final result here, with explanation at bottom of post).

All of the above is a preamble to my saying that I'll not have time to blog for a couple days.  I've already spent a couple hours clearing snow, and there are many hours to go.

If you need something to do during TYWKIWDBI's silence, consider the quiz mentioned in the post below this one.

7 comments:

  1. Regarding birch tapping, have a look at this:
    http://sula.lv/pages/eng

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  2. Ugh, have fun digging out. Take care!

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  3. better you than us, all we get was rain her in Mass

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  4. I often forget that I live very close to you- and then this post reminds me that we are indeed both in Dane County. The rural road on which I live was cleared surprisingly quickly. Our power was out for an hour. All in all, I enjoyed the storm.

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    Replies
    1. If you look like the photo Cellar Door, then I don't think we've met...

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    2. It's more a photo of my mascot than my actual self. I'm less hairy in person.

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  5. That happened to one of my Dad's birches (he lives in Connecticut) - the next spring we hitched it to a truck and straightened it out. It seems to have survived. It's tied to a tree next to it to keep it straight.

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