Winter Words

So we go from very cold (-40) to 55 degrees within just weeks. Now granted, this 55 is not "normal" for this time of year. (Has any weather actually been "normal" since we got here? I think not.) Still, it was very nice to see most of the snow disappear, and have ugly dead grass instead for a few days...

White. It's all white. The fields, the roofs, the trees, the bushes, the cars, the roads... and a lot of it isn't even snow! The salt creates a film on everything, so blacktop is whitetop, red cars are white cars... oh, but the SIDES of the road? They're black. Blacker than the blacktop was when it was new. It's snow. SNOW. Snow pushed to the sides of the road and completely covered with brake dust. Ew. And you guys (hello California...) are breathing that crud? I think I'd rather keep it in my snow.

Oh, but besides that, I've discovered that all is not white during winter. When it gets this cold for this long, you become more creative in the way you look at white. There's nothing quite like a gorgeous purple and orange sunset above blue snow, with pink spots on the ground where the streetlights shine.

We've been learning new terminology. Some of it's learned, at least. The rest we make up for sheer lack of formal description. Here's a few:
Snowdogs - not dogs, but a type of round rainbow around the sun or moon when the ice crystals are just right.
Pothole Derby - the way you test your driving ability on any given road midway through winter.
Light Pillars - what they sound like, up in the sky at night. Caused by the city lights reflecting off a particular type of ice crystals. We first thought they were the Northern Lights.
Road Snot - the crud (snow and brake dust) that gets kicked up on your car behind the tires, creating lovely lumps of, well, snot.
Kitty Litter - what you keep in your vehicle for traction when the heat of your tires on your parking space has melted and refrozen the ground, leaving you stranded.
Freezing Fog - this one can be nasty to be in, but it has the most awesome effect. When the fog is thick and heavy with humidity at low temperatures, it freezes on anything it touches. It completely covers every single branch on bushes and trees, making them absolutely white. They look painted. It's gorgeous, a winter wonderland. It doesn't last long - usually just in the morning as the day is getting started. Then the sun evaporates everything, and the sculptures go back to looking like trees and bushes again. I'd love to get photos, but it lasts for such a short time, and I'm usually on my way somewhere.

I've learned that things can melt when it's below freezing during the day. This is just wrong. I should not see water dripping off the roof when it is 17 degrees outside. Everything that I have ever known tells me that when it hits 32 degrees, water freezes. Apparently, this is the Twilight Zone, because on a sunny day, at 17 degrees, snow WILL melt (and become ice during the night to give you a fresh new ice rink for Car Hockey. See December 23 blog.)