Snowy

All night, there was alternating rain and snow, and the sound of icy clumps plummeting from the trees. The moonbright clouds lit the reflective snow, but every spot that was bare, under eaves and trees and around bushes, was dark, as though shadows were falling straight down, so the entire night it seemed like an eerily dim noon. Now the year dawns gray and white, filled with the sound of snowmelt trickling through the downspout. I sense a strangeness ahead.


And why do I always discover interesting web sites just when it's time to go to sleep? Photo Gallery of buildings by Los Angeles area architects. Now I have to wait to look at it, lest I sleep through the entire first afternoon of the year.

Chilled

Now it has gotten seriously cold. The snowfall turned back to rainfall, and dim afternoon's gray sky brooded over the white lawn which is now pocked with dark spots where rain has melted the snow. I had to go out to Safeway this evening, through nearly deserted streets paved with reflections of lights winking at nobody, and the soft rain streaking in the headlight beams. Bleak winter prevails in the mountains, though near sunset there were patches of light to be seen on the floor of the valley. More snow is expected to fall tonight, but there might be a bit of sunlight on Tuesday morning. I'm not counting on it, though. The house smells of damp. I must turn up the heat, though Sluggo be displeased. A week into winter, and already I am eager for spring.