Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Oh No! Winter Is Here!


I knew it was coming, but somehow I just didn't believe it. The weather reports said there might be some snow, but I wanted to ignore it. I knew it was cold, but I hoped it would go away. How could this have happened? It seems like it was summer only a few weeks ago. I didn't want it to come quite yet, but winter is here.

I went to visit one of the nature parks today, and I found winter all around me. Obviously I was greeted with biting cold. That was no problem because I was well prepared. But I wasn't prepared for what was to greet me down at the lake.

The lake is frozen over! It has a complete covering of ice! It's still very thin, but it is indeed there. And if you take a closer look at this top picture, or especially click on it, you can see falling snow. Whether it's official or not, winter is really here, and there's nothing I can do about it.


This was the first sight I saw when I went down the fishing platform to look at the lake. I'm still having trouble believing my own eyes because it happened so fast. I was just at this place a few days ago, and there was no sign at allthat this lake would freeze any time soon. I wonder if it will last all winter.

It wasn't snowing yet when I was at the fishing platform, but I began to see a few snowflakes as I got about halfway to the back of the park. Even though other people have reported it a few days ago, it was the first snow I've seen this year.


This is what I found when I got to the back of the park near the dam. This is the only spot that doesn't have a covering of ice. This ice is thin now, but it will thicken as time goes on. I guess none of this is unusual because it has snowed earlier than this in past years. It just seemed to happen so fast.

I honestly have to say though that I'm not really that upset about it. This gives me a few new things to write about for a little while. It might seem to get old as time goes on, but for now it's actually kind of exciting. I wanted to capture the ice on this lake as early as possible. And I hoped to capture the first falling snow I saw. I accomplished it all in one day!

So now I know, winter is here.

15 comments:

  1. I really do miss the first snowfall of the season and a white Christmas (I moved from north to south), but I definitely do NOT miss the slush and sleet. I'm looking forward to experiencing snow this year vicariously through your blog (without the shoveling :o) Thanks for the photos!

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  2. Looks like Winter to me, ice and all. We are expecting single digits tonight but no snow in the forecast for awhile which is fine with me. Our lake will probably look a lot like that in the next day or two.

    After ten years in Alaska I really don't get all that excited about a white Christmas.

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  3. Though I am not looking forward to snow, my little boy is! I can't believe it's that cold already to have ice on the water.

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  4. Nice pictures!! I have this weird thing where I like being really hot, unless I sweat too much. In general I seem to have a better temperature tolerance than most people.
    Winter, gazing from my window to watch the snow silently drift past the street light gives me sense of calm. Earlier today, I went for a walk, and my mind went in to a strange but very calm state. I'm not much for snowball fights and snowmen these days, but snow in general is cool. Sometimes school is delayed...Christmas comes soon. Winter can be cool.

    Regards,

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  5. Yup Winter is here too. We don't a lot of snow in the South here but it is cold and the other morning there was ice on the buckets.

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  6. winter is here also. i love the snow, just the ice underneath that i can do without. looking forward to your winter stories ratty. have a great day...hugz!

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  7. Here we are! We are supposed to get maybe 14" tonight. That will be really nice. You know that I like it. I'll look forward to the interesting things you find this year.

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  8. Winter here too, but nothing like there. Just a lot of rain and wind and a few grumpy folk. Merry Christmas Ratty! Hope yours is blessed!

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  9. Beautiful pictures, Rat. I never get to see anything like this so it is most interesting to me. San Francisco, this morning, is down to 31 which is really amazing. In the San Jose area, there is snow at some of the lower elevations, I've heard! I wish I could get up to Lake Tahoe - I haven't been in several years - always one of my favorite spots in CA. You can actually take a train and that would be really beautiful!

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  10. Winter has arrived here as well as much as i dislike it there was not stopping it. If I could only sit inside and watch it through the window until spring returns I would be a happy camper :)

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  11. Bill and I don't hate Winter, but we can't have our adventures of riding the trike until Spring so we get a wee tad depressed. At least you can still have some of your adventures with nature even in Winter. We apparently don't have nice areas to explore or maybe we do I just haven't looked for them. Maybe I should get out more.

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  12. We are in Florida for a two week vacation...but we see on the Weather Channel that the U.P. has gotten two feet of snow in the last two days..and I think lower Michigan is experiencing quite a bit of snow too!
    We are worried because we have to fly home on Sunday. Yikes!

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  13. Ratty I like snow but hate what comes after it-the mucky slush etc.

    Even now I still find it strange living in a land with no real Winter although its a cool 20C this morning-yes it does feel cool when you live here a while!

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  14. Just be careful Ratty, don't fall into the lake.

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  15. Thanks to all of you for your comments. Sorry I didn't answer each one individually this time. I really wanted to, but this gives me the time to visit all of your websites.

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