This sign might be irrelevant for a while

I spotted this sign along I-94 a few weeks ago and stopped to take a photo. It’s warning about a curve in a frontage road near an on-ramp, but it doesn’t look like either the sign nor the road itself will be seeing much use for a while.

Certainly by now anyone who’d planned on using this road (yes, there is a road under there) has found an alternate route. I was going to add that Spring is right around the corner, but now certain computer models are forecasting a “Biblical” amount of snow for our area next week! Time to hunker down and see what happens…

Back when snow was AWESOME

Although born a North Dakotan, I grew up in the Rocky Mountains. I love snow as much as I love the mountains themselves. So when I found a couple little pockets of snow at over 10,000 feet elevation this summer, I was delighted. And yeah, I made snowballs. It was a blast.

Like I said, I had to hike quite a ways and to quite an altitude to find snow that late in the year, even in the mountains, due to the past couple of dry years…but it was definitely a mission accomplished.

Now? I’ve actually had enough snow for a while. It’s piled high and deep on all sides of my driveway, and I have some pretty good drifting across my property. I spent plenty of time staying ahead of this week’s storms, clearing the areas I need to clear in between waves of snow so it’s more manageable. But yeah, I’ve had enough fun for now. A White Christmas is guaranteed. Hopefully we can save any future significant snowfall for my next snowboarding trip!

The new fall styles are in

Here we are…another autumn season! I have had a gut feeling for a while that this season will be short and sweet. So far we’ve got the sweet! The colors of the leaves have become spectacular.

I’m incredibly busy – still – so I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to get out with my camera to capture some fall colors before the leave are gone, but I’m going to give it my best shot! I already took an unscheduled day off to bolt to Pembina Gorge with my sweetie, and I hope to post those photos soon. So even if I’m tied up for much of this season, I won’t end up empty-handed!

Wild clouds yesterday

So I understand we had some weather on Thursday. Well, I was roaming the back roads of Morton County but was able to see from a distance that there was some significant action going on in the skies northeast of our location.

Once I zoomed in on the tail end of the massive cloud formation I saw some pretty striking features.

Here’s a slightly closer crop. What really caught my eye was the ring around the top of the cloud, but once I grabbed a telephoto shot I also noticed some serious convection going on back there. Pretty wild!

On the way back into town we did pass a stretch – about a mile long – during which there were hailstones piled up on the east side of the road. Otherwise, I stayed dry all the way back to town, but for a few sprinkles after we passed St. Anthony. I was pleased to find out that there wasn’t any damage on my property once I got home. But I heard it was quite a show!

Rime Ice Redux

Remember when I flooded the ol’ Blog with a ton of frost (okay, Rime Ice) photos? Well, I also shot a little bit of video to accompany those photos. I threw together a simple video containing a few clips with some music to share. I hope you enjoy!

Think Spring

As Austin Powers would say…I’m spent. That’s right, this is my last frost (okay, Rime Ice) photo. I might have more left in the “unedited” category, but they’re going to have to remain in limbo for the foreseeable future.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Spring. Since I pretty much worked straight through 2020, I’m really hoping 2021 will make up for it. I’ve accrued a ton of vacation time, I’ve worked hard to get myself in the best physical condition I’ve seen in a long time, and I have big plans along with some re-evaluated priorities. So bring it on!