For What It's Worth, Here's What Winter Used to Look Like

This is in the city of Lewes, on February 6, 2010.

The Last Hours of Winter

I took a short walk this morning on the Junction and Breakwater trail that runs through parts of Cape Henlopen State Park between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Spring begins this evening at 7:21 p.m., but this morning was cold and clear and the trees remain spare and stark in the weak and watery light.

A Winter Walk on the Beach

We had sunshine and blue skies today, so I took advantage of the change in the weather to walk the beach and the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach this morning.

I was out early, but the tents and signs and flags were already going up for the Polar Bear Plunge to take place in the afternoon. By the time I was done and headed out of town, the town was filling up with plungers and their friends. But I still got some quiet alone-ish time on the beach.

A Snowy Day

Delaware is getting hit with a minor blizzard this Boxing Day. It's one of those Nor'Easter storms that hugs the coast; the snow started from the south and east and is working its way up to the north.

We spent last night in Bethesda, Maryland. We'd had Christmas Day with my family there and planned to spend today in Upper Marlboro with most of Karen's family. The changing forecast for the storm tortured us for most of the day. When we went to bed last night it looked bad and this morning conformed it. We had to leave early.

We made a quick stop in Bowie to drop off gifts with Karen's sister and left for home at about 10:30, with a few snowflakes starting to fall there. By the Bay Bridge, snow was falling heavily enough to obscure the horizon. By Denton the roads were wet and by Bridgeville they started to become snow covered. 

It was east of Bridgeville that we crossed some sort of border and into the heaviest part of the storm. The roads became thickly covered and our speed steadily decreased. The ride from Georgetown over to Lewes was slow and slippery with nearly white-out conditions. 

But we made it. there's a fire in the grate and warm blankets all around.

Going... Going...

It's been a month since the Blizzards of 2010 in southern Delaware. Starting on February 5, we had two rounds of heavy snow.

The storms left us shoveling out driveways and piling the snow along the sides.

I piled most of our driveway's snow on the side of the driveway that is usually downwind in our neighborhood. My theory was that that would reduce drifting. It mostly worked. It also meant that we had a large long ridge of snow down one side of the driveway.

It stuck around for a while. This shot is from March 4. Even after a warm-up and lots of rain, there was still a small snow bank.

By this morning (March 6) the end was in sight.

Finally, this afternoon, we saw the very last of the snowbank.

I like snow, but I'm glad to see the last of it for this year. I hope.

Sliding on the Walking Dune

sliding on the walking dune
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

We were all home again today. School was canceled and state government was shuttered in Kent and Sussex Counties because of the terrible great snowfall.

I spent the morning e-caucusing with my conference planning committee, talking about whether or not to postpone the 2010 Delaware GIS Conference which was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We used e-mail, cell-phones, google sites, and EtherPad to determine that, with roads still a mess from the week-end storm, and another sizable snow storm on the way, we should postpone it.

In the afternoon, I took a ride out to Cape Henlopen State Park and headed up to the walking dune to watch people sledding. We don't really have hills here so when there is enough snow, people head for the walking dune.

Coming back through town, I poked around and checked on the status of several streets.

It's pretty snowy around here.

The Blizzard of 2010?

We've had a bit of snow around here. It started snowing late yesterday afternoon and continued pretty steadily until around 7 this evening. Along the way, we think it changed over to rain for a little bit overnight last night. But most of it was heavy snow and high winds.

Our Saturday was blizzardy and wild.


This was mid-afternoon when the white-out was at its height. I took this video from the garage door, without venturing out. The girls asked me to leave the driveway alone until they can get out and romp in it tomorrow.

A bit later I went out in the back yard to check the heat pump. There I found drifts up over my knees.

This has been a rare sort of a storm for us. We don't usually get this much snow and I don't recall ever seeing "Blizzard Warning" on the evening newscast before. Also unprecedented was the order from Governor Markell last night through most of today banning all but essential folks from driving.

As a state, we hunkered down and waited it out, except for emergency crews, snowplow drivers and National Guard troops who were out helping the few morons who did try to drive -- and moving folks whose power died get to shelters.

We're suffering a bit from cabin fever, but here in Lewes, we've been lucky. we kept our power all day (but for one 10-second blip). We lost the cable for a short time, but had lots of Lucy and other favorites stored up on the TiVo.

Tomorrow, it's snow shovels and aching muscles for all!

Shoveling the Driveway

shoveling the driveway
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

We don't really get a lot of snow here in southern Delaware, so when we do, we get pretty excited about it. That's one reason why I was all revved-up about shoveling the driveway this morning. The other was that it gave me an excuse to try a time-lapse photo thingy.

When I first came out and took a picture from the garage door this morning, Barry, from across the street, asked whether I expected photography to melt the snow away. He's originally from York, PA, and snow is nothing too special for him.

I took a picture from the same spot every two passes across the driveway. I tried to remain consistent as to angle and aspect; I used Mary and Barry's dormer window, in the upper left, as a reference point.

This sequence starts at about 9:30 a.m. and runs until around 11:15 a.m. I took my time, enjoyed my coffee and came in at one point to take a phone call.

Food for a Rainy, Snowy Day

With Delaware forecast to get a winter storm of biblical proportions (did they have snow in the Bible?), I thought today would be a good day for a crockpot meal. Thus, we have Crockpot Experiment #219.

This morning I started what I hope to be a tasty, hearty dinner. I documented the steps both in the slideshow above and in a series of tweets (#crockpot219).

This one includes potatoes, beef (browned with spices and garlic), peas, sweet corn, condensed french onion soup, and an old beer from the back of the fridge. I'll try to add updates when it is un-crockpotted later this evening.

Update: We ate this at about 6 pm, over bismati rice. I paired it with a recent Yuengling lager. It went over well, though Colleen disapproves of the peas. It had thickened nicely; browning the meat with flour seemed to help. (8:30 p.m.)

First Golf Game of 2009

I played my first golf of the year this afternoon. It was a practice round at the local par-3. I hadn't even been to the driving range yet, so this was a cold start.

I played at Midway Par 3, which is an older course and not as well-kept as it might be. But it is inexpensive and relaxed and nearby. It was the first course I tried when I started to play this game as an adult, and it is a nice place to try out the swing at the start of the season.

I played two balls on each hole. Playing two let me try different different swings and clubs and approaches. I also kept two scores; my good ball score and my bad ball score. Neither score was great.

My best-ball score was 65. The bad score was 81. This is a par-54 course, so there's no bragging here. still, for a first time out on the season, I was pretty happy with my short-iron play. I still need to learn to judge which club for which distance better; this sort of practice round can help with that.

What was not good was my putting. I need to slow down on the greens and think about putts before I try them. I have a tendency to rush this part of my game. It's not a good approach.

It's wild to think that a week ago we were watching the start of the season's largest snow-fall. Today I walked a round of golf in shorts and a polo shirt.

This posting of scorecards on-line is a new thing, by the way. I'm not sure whether or not to continue the practice during this year's golf season. It is the transparent thing to do, but it may become painful. Also, I can't tell how any golf partners I may play with will like the idea.

We'll see.

Snow Day (At Last)

The mid-Atlantic states have joined the south in a coating of snow this morning. Our neighbors to the north are getting hit as well with a snow-laden late-winter northeaster.

We went to bed to a dusting last night and awoke to find several inches have fallen and more coming down and blowing around. There was also a period of sleet and freezing rain and so the roads are reportedly pretty rough. This is particularly true here where people are not as used to driving on snow.

Schools are shut and state workers advised to stay home. I poked my lens out the door for a moment this morning to catch a few early shots. I'll get out later for more photos and some snow-shoveling. For the moment I'm tracking the storm on-line.

A note to my conservative friends: the jokes about global warming, every time the temperature dips, are getting old. "Warming" is not the point; climate-change is the point. And this winter's roller-coastering from warm to wintry and back again illustrates that point. The forecast for the coming week-end? Sixty degrees.

But enough of grumpiness. We have a day of snow to enjoy.

It's something of a shame that I made my crock-pot stew yesterday. This would also have been a great day to slow-cook. We've plenty of fire-wood, though. And blankets and sleepy cats. We should be just fine.

Odd Weather

The high temperature in Dover (DE) today was 54 degrees, only about 10 degrees higher than average for the second day of February; but odd, given that the forecast for tomorrow is cold rain and snow. Skies were clear and the sun was warm. I spent my lunch hour on a brisk photo-walk and was quite comfortable in shorts and a polo shirt.

Silver Lake was iced over, but the ice was looking old and ragged and melting away from the shore. The gulls liked it.

A Bit More on the Red Clover Inn

We're home from our week of wandering north of here and I have had a chance to yank photos from the trip off my camera. Many are of the Red Clover Inn, which we felt we helped pioneer this past week with our friends Andy and Lynn and our collections of daughters.

That's the main Inn building to the right there. Andy and Lynn and their girls had rooms in the main building. Karen and I stayed in a large room in a separate carriage house. Colleen and Christina were in the carriage house as well. Their room was above a dedicated room where our old friend Andrea, a massage therapist we visited for years at The Tyler Place, has begun to create a new spa.

The Red Clover Inn is an old Inn that was built on an even older farm. It served vacationers for many years and developed a strong reputation. The owners turned their Inn over to new managers and retired some years ago and the place seems to have declined. In the last year, the owners sold the property to the Tyler family who spent eight months fixing and mending and redecorating; they created a lovely new/old Inn which reopened just a few weeks ago.

A major attraction of the Inn is a wonderful restaurant that integrates gently into the main building. The Tylers found a great chef and he has put together a tasty menu that features local ingredients and sustainable foods. The restaurant seems to do a steady business beyond the Inn guests; that's a good thing.

There is also a comfortable lounge, with a fireplace and sofas and chairs and games and windows overlooking the property. A comfortable spot after a day of skiing or hiking or golfing or which-ever of the attractions of this part of Vermont you choose to enjoy.

The guest rooms vary from spacious and elegant to small and cozy. Several have fireplaces. Some feature hot-tubs (fabulous for aching old-guy muscles that hadn't been on skis in 30 years).

Am I gushing? yes, I am. But with good reason. The Tyler family are great inn-keepers and they find and support high-level employees. We've spent the last decade getting to know these folks. They give us vacations to celebrate and I think it is only right that I pass on to you information about those vacation opportunities.

Happy Hanukkah!

Today begins the Festival of Lights, an eight-day celebration that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the Second Century during a revolt against Greek rule by a Hebrew commander called Judah Maccabee. (Hat tip to wikipedia).

Matt Haughey has posted a link to a fun song for the holiday. One that places it nicely in a modern context.



I grew up in an area that had a healthy mix of faiths. I was raised a Catholic but a great many of my friends were Jewish (and some were Hindu and some Muslim, but that is a post for other holidays). We were aware of and took pleasure in each other's holidays. There was no "War on Christmas." There a universal respect for our various cultures. And there was occasional jealousy over gift-getting traditions, but that was minor.

For a full primer on Hanukkah, I strongly recommend "A Rugrats Chanukah," which tells the story of the Maccabean revolt through the imaginations of Tommy, Chucky, Angelica, and Phil'n'Lil. Watching The Rugrats was an added bonus for me during the time of small children, and this retelling of the Hanukkah story contains one of my favorite Rugrats moments: when Tommy emerges from a cave, dressed as one of the Maccabees, and declares, "A macca-baby's gotta do what a macca-baby's gotta do!"

'Tis the Season

We decorated our tree this evening. Though it was not a particularly cold evening, we had a roaring fire and a hearty homemade spaghetti dinner to put us in the mood. And we created a Christmas music station on Pandora; Tchaikovsky (snowflake waltz), Wyndham Hill artists, Laurence Juber, and the like.

We have more ornaments than we need, and fewer lights. We have balls made throughout pre-school by and for both of our daughters. We have reindeer made from popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. We have knit things and glued-on-paper things and hand-made ceramic things (made by very little hands).

There are Giraffe- and flute-themed ornaments for Karen. There are golf- and football-themed ornaments for me.

We have a lot of ornaments.

We generally put our tree up late in the season. But we also keep it up longer. Karen was raised in the Orthodox church that celebrates the religious holiday of Christmas on January 7 (little Christmas).

Every year I grumble that Christmas starts too soon. But when we get to this part of December, this is a holiday I really like.

...and Then It Warmed Up

Here's what the Snow Girl looked like late this morning. We've warmed up considerably since Wednesday's pretty snowfall and Thursday's icy roads.

We found a trace of snow, the buttons that made up parts of the face, and the carrot nose. I'm impressed that the ball that formed the head was still visible as a separate part.

Walking in Dover, yesterday, I found a small patch of snow hiding in the shadow of a bench.

I imagine that's gone now too.

Snow Day? Snow Girl.

We didn't get a huge amount of snow yesterday, but it was enough to cover the roads and the night was cold enough to turn that covering to ice, at least on the back roads. The result was a day off from school for Karen and the girls.

Christina made her traditional Snow Girl. Much of the snow had melted by the time I returned this evening. Snow Girl was gamely hanging on.

Did I Jinx It?

There I was on Saturday, thinking spring and digging higher temperatures. I called the change of season too soon, I guess.

This evening, we're looking out at about three inches of snow that fell during the day today. It's not a spring snow, either. This is a fluffy cold-weather snow.

We could see school delays in the morning. The main roads look mostly wet, as evidenced by this image from shortly after 8:00 p.m., just outside Rehoboth Beach. Things could be a tad slick in the morning.

Thanks to the DelDOT Interactive Traffic Map site for the image.

Photo-Haiku #1

Ocean Beach, Winter.
Three shells washed onto the sand.
Wind blows. Time passes.

(Some of) What I Like About snow

We got a moderate amount of snow in Delaware this week. It was very cold, so our snow was wonderfully fluffy. We're more used to heavy wet snow.

Not this time. This week's snow was more like what they see well up north. As a result, our scant two inches gave us maximum visual pleasure.

We have gotten so little snow of late that it doesn't take much to satisfy my snowfall jones. For a while.