Six consecutive months with snow, and now all at once it’s mid-December again. As I write, the temperature is headed for the teens, with the wind gusting to 35 mph. Yesterday it was over 60 degrees!
The sky clouded over in the morning. By afternoon we had heavy “horizontal snow,” our euphemism for what you’d call a blizzard. It lasted for hours. Fortunately the ground was warm enough to melt most of it as it fell, though we accumulated a couple of inches after the temperature dropped into the 20s. Since sunset there’s been nothing but wind.
Before the cold rolled in, I’d actually had time to clean the chimney on my wife’s studio next door. It isn’t all that hard, because most times I don’t do it right. What we have here is your basic climb-up-on-the-roof and knock-the-soot-off-with-a-stick routine. I use a 10-foot length of skinny plastic plumbing pipe that works quite well and gets me absolutely filthy. (This time I had wet snow in the face for a distraction.) Then I climb down off the roof and go clean the crap out of the Jøtul. It’s important to to already be dirty at that point, and I usually am. Today I also discovered that the initial soot dump into the stove had expelled a cloud of greasy black powder over a six-foot radius.
I had to carry a lampshade outside and tap it gently in the wind to dislodge the dust without leaving a mark.
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TOTALLY off the subject of cleaning soot – I was enjoying your Taos Gorge photo’s, and my wife was determined this year to cross the bridge…which she did and I am very proud of her for that. My point, however, is your view facing North to Colorado…is there still the white car about half way down that appears to have done a Thelma and Louise crash landing..or have they finally removed the eye sore from the gorgeous view you display?? Again Just curious, now I gotta write myself a note to clean OUR chimney…Next year will do……Thanks in advance, and sorry to go so far off the subject…..but you have made me notice every VIBE in Oklahoma lately, and am seriously considering one for my next vehicle!! Thanks Steve
Sigh, I had to drag my coat back out of the closet today. I’d put it away yesterday after watching some early butterflies landing on the equally early peach blossoms. Didn’t seem so early yesterday.
We might get a frost tonight. Haven’t yet had one this winter.
No kidding on the winter reset. I live in Okahoma and we had torential thunderstorms and tornados Sunday night and woke to snow Monday morning. Everything is wonky weatherwise – seems wonkier than in the past, but I’ve been told, no, I’m the wonky one, that this is normal yo-yo season weather. Funny, I don’t remember tornados followed by snow….but I ramble. Would like to take this opportunity to say I really enjoy your photos and check your website every few days to ooh and ahh at the scenery.