Crusty the Snowman ...

At present, we have a few inches of snow on the ground. It's winter, and as it happens, we get a couple of inches of snow about once a week or so. Our last snowfall was Sunday, we got 6 wonderful inches of puffy, fluffy January snow. It's not too hard ... it's not too soft ... it's just right.

After the snow, the other weather phenomena we regularly experience in between our routine snow events, is the warming interval. Sometimes, the warm spell means 15-20 degrees and sometimes, it's 45. During our current wintery time out, we've scored a nice few days where the highs have reached into the upper 40s.

Take it from someone who has taken many an afternoon stroll when it's bleary, cold and damp. Those days when some of us have to don a sweater. The assault on my dignity not withstanding, the sweater thing, most definitely Mom's idea. Any who ... when we get a whack at a 40 degree day ... It's. Like. Heaven.

Today was that day !!

For every upside, you know there's got to be a down. On days like today with the vast termperature inversions, a hard crust forms on the snow. So imagine my surprise as I take off into the frozen tundra, prepared to take the next snowdrift by storm ... when .. I bust through the icy crust and ... bam ... right up to my shoulder. And as I pull my foot up to move forward ... bam ... right up to my shoulder. I wish I wasn't so surprised with every step, but I just am ...