South Pole Snow Flurries

Well this weather pattern just doesn’t quit easily. So for the last few days it’s been noticeably colder and yesterday’s rainstorm seemed to be a combination of raindrops and snowflakes. In some areas the rain just froze into little shards of ice, which we could see all over certain parts of the ground. Tiny spears crunched under our feet. Last night the temperatures dropped to minus one or two degrees but I heard no raindrops on our roof and we woke up to several white paddocks although hardly any snow around the house, but the mountains and hills got a really good dumping. Realizing this would be a perfect theme for today’s blog, we took an early morning tramp up the hill with the bitterly cold wind bombarding our bodies despite the sunny skies overhead and the layers of clothing I’d put on. But we trekked on and arrived at the summit of our driveway where we could have a better view of some of the whiteness and see how the sheep were faring on the hillsides. The sharp sun and the strong breeze were causing major meltdowns and as I got closer to my front garden near the house on our return, I captured real icicles that had formed as the melting began on a few of my tiniest plants. But they’re none the worse for it and most will weather this storm better than we can with all of our artificial heating devices cranked up to maximum inside while our fingers and toes make a stab at coming back to life. 

We’re the Fairweathers after all. We like the warm sultry days better than the frigid conditions, although John loved his vacation escape house in Big Bear that he purchased the month before we met. But having a snowy retreat for weekends is different than living through a year or two or more of dark, freezing and very wet climate with overwhelming winds thrown in for good measure. We got past the two horrific earthquakes in Christchurch but never expected how fleeting the warmth would be, or the dryness either. What can I say? It’s either feast or famine. The last few years of drought followed by the wettest months mixed with cold temperatures just happen to be part of a regular solar cycle that may last another 5 years or more. Yet this is why when we do have a sunny, not too windy day before us we’re out in the garden working like little beavers to catch up on most of the still unfinished problem areas. The good news is that the days ahead will get warmer and more like Spring again.  At least that's the prediction coming out of the local meteorologists.  But today the cold air coming off the surrounding peaks has convinced some of the chickens to nestle up to one another in the sun to attain and maintain some warmth. They don’t usually stand so close to each other but in this weather with that wind pounding away on them…it was probably a pretty good idea since it is very chilly outside. Brrr.