The less fun side of winter

I live south of Atlanta, so not surprisingly I'm without power right now and have been for about 13 hours. Except for 20 minutes of power in the mid afternoon. Thanks for that, GA power, for that false hope. Partner cooked dinner in the fireplace. We raided every closet for spare blankets. If not for our dog, we would have gone to a hotel. Not many pet friendly options out there.

It isn't exactly the kind of fun we had two weeks ago.

We're sleeping downstairs with the dog tonight.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I don't know if our little bitty snow storm made news outside the area, but in Georgia 2 - 3 inches is a huge deal. I was sent home from work at 1:45 and partner couldn't finish his business out there and ended up taking two hours to drive seven miles! This is what it looked like near the woods behind the house. Not too shabby, but still...not exactly epic, right?

Gracie loved it! She had never seen more than a few errant flakes before. She totally digs the snow, despite greeting it with a warning growl at first. Plus the cold doesn't seem to phase her at all, but then, she was bred for the weather of central Europe, including some of its more elevated areas. 

She especially enjoyed rolling in the snow and then shaking it off her coat. I wish she had held still a bit more, so I could get some cute greeting card shots for next Christmas, but she's a puppy and never holds still for anything. Ever.

I'm so glad she got to have this experience. Not every dog lives long enough to see this sort of snowfall in our part of Georgia.

Lucky girl.

Out in Nature - Trip to Morgan Grove

Despite the high today only reaching about 47F, we ventured out to give the dog some outdoor time and made our first trip to one of the newest parks around here - Morgan Grove. It's located just south of Fayetteville. The site is actually very primitive - gravel entrance and parking, unimproved trails, etc. - but really neat too.



The picture to the left and below here are of the meadow, taken from the trail, which is only about a mile, round trip, including the loop down to the creek and back up. Today, it was cold enough for the creek to have a skin of ice on it (not pictured), but with the sun and the native plants blocking the wind, it wasn't too bad.

I'm certain I'm allergic to everything in these fields, but the pines.





 The trail itself was a mixture of sand, mud, rocks, moss, and low grass/weeds, making it a little treacherous because of muddy and slippery areas, but still easier walking by far than Line Creek Nature Area. Hint: no exposed roots.

 At a couple points, the trail had been blocked by fallen limbs and an actual fallen pine tree of some significant size and dimension that hopefully the Rec Department will move soon, unless they're leaving it for Southern Conservation Trust to handle.

I would like to post some images of spring in a couple months, but I might need a nudge to remember to do that.

Gracie had an especially nice time, although she did attract the attention of two gigantic dogs who apparently live at the house adjacent the park. One looked to be an American Bulldog mix. The other was partly shepherd, but with a friendly-tipped left ear. They didn't come after her or us, but they made us think.

Good times!

Georgia Climate - Rainy Winters

This is what Line Creek looked like on Sunday after some really serious rainfall on Saturday. Yes, those are tiny white caps in the flow, which covered 100% of the shoal areas of the nature area. The creek overflowed the banks in many places, washed out the trail in a couple more, and generally made a lot of noise as it rushed toward Lake Mac.

The dog enjoyed drinking from it, despite the turbidity - note the color. The creek is pretty clean in this area with nothing being dumped into it until you get more than ten miles upstream to Fulton County.

The high for the day was a pleasant 67-degrees, a welcome change from the cold weather from last week, that closed schools in spite of the lack of snow.

Indoor weather

Today, it is extremely cold outside here in Georgia. I should be able to put on a nice sweater or long-sleeve shirt and vest. I should be able to wear woolly socks and boots.

Alas...I work with women.

So while the outdoors may require one form of dress (warm...hello) the interior of the building with be so freaking hot that I'll need short sleeves, light-weight pants, and ankle socks just to do my job without being uncomfortable and potentially dehydrated.

Then, when I step out of the building to get to my car, I'll bundle up in a jacket and still freeze.

Nice. Thanks for that, ladies. Thanks a lot.