A Kinder, Gentler Snow

It could be that almost everybody around here is happy to see this morning's snow, especially Tom Sherry.

Things were getting pretty dull for his December weather reports, what with air stagnation from nice weather taking the lead headlines for the past several days.

I could tell Tom was stoked up last night when our lovable KREM-2 News weather man started appearing in between regular programming to tell us about the inch or so of snow we could expect overnight.

I don't recall seeing any streaming banners warning of dire conditions blocking out part of the programming view. So, it was not an all-out alert.

But the impending snow did add some spice to an otherwise dull, dull day weatherwise. 

I got the feeling from various folks around the region that the blah-filled moods were pretty universal.

Heck, my swine dance and oinking at the moon didn't even do the trick for me.  

Nor, did my late-afternoon run to the Kootenai Post office with 13 Christmas cards and four dogs.

I deposited the cards but kept the dogs.

Even Border Collies displayed weather-related apathy yesterday, except for when the giant white Pyrenees from the neighbors to the West came to visit them in the hayfield. 

Four Border Collies---all in one---couldn't match the size of that big fluffy visitor.  

Not wanting to start some regular neighborhood mutt party, I implored our four collies to come with me.  

Every step we took toward the lane back to the house was followed by a romp from behind and a longing look from the big boy, suggesting ". . . but I want to play."

What was looking like an insolvable situation quickly ended when 15.5 year-old Annie dog lunged, only like a 15.5 year-old crotchety yellow lab could do. 

She just lunged right at that big boy, almost tumbling over, but maintaining her mobility enough to get right up in the dog's face and to let out a great big "GRRR!"  

Well, it was a big "GRRR" for an ancient dog anyway.

The intruder did not know what to make of this "in-your-face" assault.

Just stood there and looked at Annie with a curious expression.

Annie circled around, lunged again, "GRRR'd" again, and Big White seemed to get the message.

Fortunately, and for a change, we did not have to call the neighbors to tell them, "Your dog is over here."  

I'm thinking today with this snow, Big White might just blend in, and our dogs won't notice if he's sniffing around the hayfield.

And, speaking of dogs, their deposits seemingly all over the yard added to overall ugliness of a gritty-looking landscape interrupted by a few petrified, dusty snow masses dropped before Thanksgiving.

So, things are prettier around here this morning.  Dog piles, no longer visible.  Christmas lights actually looking magical with their coating of powdery snow.

And, I'm guessing the folks up at Schweitzer are ecstatic this morning with the new snow deposits.

So far, outdoor travel has been easy.  No need for snow pants.  No need for a plow.  

From what I see in the forecast, we're due for just a coating and maybe another in a few days.  Otherwise, the next ten days will be sunny/partially cloudy. 

So, I call this a kinder, gentler snow than that which kept dumping before Thanksgiving and which kept me out plowing.

Probably the only person I know who's not too thrilled with the so-far easy winter is Tom Sherry.  

Life must be pretty dull for weather forecasters when they can't break into primetime programming to warn us to get hunkered down and ready for three inches of snow in the dead of December. 

Tough for Tom, but great for us who've managed to survive brutal North Idaho winters, even when we had no TV and no streaming banners. 

Disclaimer:  I do love Tom.  He's a good man and a good weather forecaster, but when you're old and you've seen the worst of winters and the best of winters, you've got to put your tongue in your cheek every so often.