A little bit of winter...

37,41,35, .75", B

a year apart

Last year on this day it snowed early morning and was overcast all day with a high of 43°.  This year it was partly cloudy with a high of 78°.  72,78,64,0,B

last winter storm...

32,37,11,0,C

slow melt...

 

Day two after the storm.  This is the first time since I moved here 

13 years ago that the snow hasn't all melted right away.

30, 43,18, .30",C

a little snow...

a little snow...

62,74,31,0,B

The Blizzard of 2020

Video Friday

38,45,31, .05",B

Snow

Job 38:22  Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?

touch and go

Another long round trip to Odessa to see my surgeon.  So far so good - bones are still aligned and evidence of them beginning to heal could be seen on the xray.  I can start doing some ankle excercises to loosen it up but can expect at least 2 more months of non weight bearing.  He also confirmed for me that my hardware will not have to be removed.  I really feel that I am in pretty good hands ...when I asked my doctor how many of these procedures he has done he said thousands.

The trip started off very slow and slippery.  My buddy Rick did the driving as we plowed through a steady snowfall from Alpine to Fort Stockton...then clear and mostly dry for the rest of the trip.  Returned to Alpine around 5PM and checked in down south.  Seems the area got a 1/2" of rain so I am hunkered down for another swank night at my hotel with the hope that my road will be dried out by tomorrow afternoon.

snow day

Light (1") snow storm last night.  All gone by 11AM.  36,43,31, .2",C

the way it was...

40,56,29,0,C, .26

cold day two

Four inches of snow overnight....cloudy and cold all day and only about half the snow melted.  All the critters made it through (including Mr. Floppy)  Ben and Bud spent most of the day in the barn with plenty of fresh hay, snacks, water, and shelter.  Carl got plenty of house time this morning.  The hens won't give me another egg till it warms up..  Lots'o'photos coming tomorrow (sunny with a high of 60).  33,40,31,4"snow,B,0

The Great Blizzard of 2011

16,25,12,T,0

back in the day...

Nothing going at TFL today except sorting out the year.  A "low-low" overnight and winds and chill prohibited more roofing today.  Thinking about my old home town as they get socked in by snow tonight.  Kinda miss the sound of the snowplows going up and down Rt. 203 after some big snow back home.  This photo from a storm in my Brooklyn studio hood in 1998.  48,63,24,0,B

...and then it snowed

34,49,31, .75" snow

desert dustin

Woke up this morning at 5:30AM. Dragged myself out of bed, fired up the heater, and made the first round of coffee for the day. Just as I headed out to feed the birds (two hours later) - I noticed something falling from the sky that was rather unfamiliar since I moved to the desert......snow! Low and behold it snowed for about an hour and a half, just long enough to powder the ground with about 3/16". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRPcazLb7Uc About an hour after it stopped snowing - the sun came out and all evidence was quickly gone ... except for the 2 cups that I saved, melted down, and bottled. You would be surprised how long it takes to fill and cork 134 two milliliter bottles with melted/filtered snow.

Studied the manual for the telescope camera and software but have yet to get it up and running. Spent two hours getting that much closer to mastering the software. Lost a bit of time today when Diego came over to check his email on my computer. 28,53,27, .02"

Field Lab Sunshine

Drove down the ranch road to check out a small travel trailer that I heard was for sale.... looks ok from the outside - I really need to take a look inside but the owner wasn't home. Smelled like rain as I headed east - lots of humidity in the air. The creosote gives off a nice fresh odor that permeates the desert when it's really humid or raining out here. Tweaked around more with the SHWH this morning. Had good sun until about 2PM then clouds into the evening with just a brief sprinkle of almost nothing. No hot water yet but I learned something about fluid dynamics today. Seems I really need to vent the highest part of the tank - know just the part to get but I will have to drill and tap a hole in the tank in order to make the connection. I mounted my last chunks of glass on the top and south side of the tank enclosure this afternoon. Just closing it in with what I have handy until I decide on how to finish it up. Kind of wrapped things up early and battened down the hatches once again as we have a 30% chance of more showers overnight...good news is tomorrow is supposed to be sunny(=shower for me). I saw the weather report for my old home town and they are expecting another snow storm tonight and tomorrow. Emailed my former next door neighbor Robin some good news about the storm. Seems this wintry mix is coming from the southwest and is the result of a cold air mass coming south out of Canada that is mixing with warmer/moist air rising north out of Mexico, passing right over my head here at the Field Lab. I told Robin that the silver lining of her next snow storm is that it will contain a little bit of Field Lab sunshine in it.