It's snowing a bit outside today. The ground is too warm for it to stick but it's still kind of pretty and reminded me of these pictures from last weekend. Last Friday and Saturday we got a whole bunch of snow. In just a few hours on Friday night the world was transformed from drab greys and decaying greens to fluffy whiteness. Saturday morning had that wonderfully bright feeling that makes a cup of hot cocoa taste especially good. Our resident squirrel was at the feeder on the back deck quite a bit, filling up with nice, fatty peanuts.

By Sunday afternoon our snow was beginning to melt. We don't usually have permanent snow until closer to Hallowe'en but this layer had been so thick I'd been hoping it would stay. Even if it wasn't sticking around it needed to be cleared of the porch so I went around to the back yard to get out the snow shovel and put away the watering can that I'd forgotten the week before.

The snowy blanket made the garden look asleep but signs of past and current life were still visible. Random bits of green could still be seen poking up through the snow: the radish plants, some tufts of coarse grass, the calendula by the front door. Sets of tiny foot prints showed where our squirrel had been hopping from one garden box to another, perhaps carrying away extra peanuts for his winter food caches. A very small but slushy trail went from the shed to the steps below the feeder.