Nor' Easter

Today, April is no longer brown. It's white, and it howls.

We're having a spring storm. We can't see too far beyond the deck, but there's still plenty to look at: snow devils, huge flakes in loop-the-loop patterns, and bending evergreens. There's even a little sparrow-ish bird outside my office--brown back and face, white belly.

I keep looking at the thermometer because I'm sure I'm reading it wrong. But it still says about 30F or 0C. Freezing/melting, in other words. It sounds far colder.

Looks like another great afternoon for a book and a cup of hot chocolate.

UPDATE at TEATIME: What a day. We lost power for a half-hour around 1.

Then there was the wind. The cover of the barbecue (what they call gas grills up here) went flying to the end of the deck. Roy retrieved it. The barbecue itself recently followed suit. Roy patiently went to retrieve it. He can't bring it inside through the sliders on the deck they're frozen shut. He can't wheel it around the side into the garage, either--no sidewalk. So it sits on the deck, waiting for another funhouse ride.

This is the first time all year we've seen any movement on the deck. In April!