albatross

The weather forecast was right (despite our doubts): winter storm Albatross arrived, and we woke up to a winter wonderland on January 19th.

The temps plummeted during this storm, so although the snow started off heavy and wet, the majority of it was dry and powdery — the perfect combination to coat the landscape in 5-6″ of pristine white ❄

I spent the better part of the morning out in the cold air with tears streaming down my face from the bright sun reflecting off the fresh snow.

The combination of snow and sunshine makes for a super bright house, but it can also be nearly blinding to step outside if you have sensitive eyes like lil ol’ me.

our neighbors have a heated birdbath (hence the dripping icicles), while our little juncos (bottom left) have to rely on Riley Mae for warm water (although they seemed pretty content to eat the snow on our deck as well)

Over the next few days the temps just kept dropping until we reached a lovely -3°f upon waking.

Plenty of food was put out for the birds who were busy little balls of fluff. Riley Mae always tells us how hard it is for Carolina wrens to survive the harsh winters, so we make sure to keep peanuts stocked for the little guys (we’re also hoping to stay on their good side so that they’ll consider nesting here, even though the tiny devilish house wrens thwarted them last year).

All in all, it was a successful snow storm, which we all made sure to thoroughly enjoy, because you never really know when the last big snow of the year will be.

I always have my fingers crossed for a real blizzard before the season is over, but each winter is completely different and totally unpredictable around here. There have been years where we get snow into April (I remember one warm day sunbathing on a lawn chair placed in the clear path snow-blown through a foot of snow), and others where it feels like winter skipped over us completely.

This year the temps and excessive wind has made sure that we don’t feel left out, but it has yet to be seen if we get any 12″ snowfalls.