It was quite a storm.  The  day before the storm arrived the university announced there would be no classes the next day.  The blizzard warning had been issued.  I taught the night the storm hit and let my class out an hour early so that everyone could get home before things got really bad.  Only half of them were there anyway.  I e-mailed the class that morning and told them they could decide for themselves whether they wanted to come  to campus.

We got about 16 inches of new snow on top of the roughly eight inches that were already on the ground.  The cat sculpture in the front is almost submerged in snow.

Snowbound Cat

I’ve set food out for the birds and squirrels and, I confess, the three stray cats that have been wondering through the gardens this winter. Two of them have to be litter-mates.  They both have seal point markings.  One is a tom, the other is a female.  I think they are sleeping under a neighbor’s deck.  The female came through this morning so she survived the blizzard.  A neighbor saw the male seal point yesterday, so he’s ok.  The old feral tabby tom hasn’t shown up yet.

My ever-so-spoiled calico enjoys watching all critters who came through the garden as she comfortably curls in the kitchen window.

Snowy Bench

The benches in the front of the house have a nasty habit of blowing over when the wind picks up.  But the weight of the snow held them in place.  The winds were so strong that they created 25 foot waves on Lake Michigan.

A few weeks ago I saw a woman wearing a t-shirt that said Lake Michigan, Salt Free.  The Great Lakes are indeed inland seas.  Those who have never seen them would swear they were on the ocean.  Anyway, the blizzard is over and we had sunny skies today.

The days are growing.  Spring will come.