Journal January 24, 2005

A very snowy visit. I measured the snow with a tape measure, and we got 11 inches. We barely made it down the driveway in the car, and it scraped snow all the way.
Mike had a great time blowing out the driveway, and neatening it up with the gator – we now have a perfectly plowed driveway.

Robert visited us for a day until he could get back in the dorms at Eau Claire. He took a couple walks, but he was a little intimidated by the deep snow.

I walked up the hill to do some seeding, and wore myself out. It’s a lot of work to get all the way to the top on snowshoes, and still have enough energy to plant. I did get the extra seed from 5 of the first sections planted – the seeds that came late so I didn’t have time to put them in the original mix. As I’m seeding the snowshoes make tracks that wander all over the smooth surface of the snow.

Jackie pointed out that even in the middle of winter the basswood trees have bright red buds.

There was an aurora alert, so I checked the sky in the middle of the night – very quiet and cold. No northern lights, but I did hear two Great Horned Owls calling to each other down the valley. I hope they’ll stay and make a nest.

On the morning walk we noticed the sedge meadow – the snow made it look like soft meringue swirls.