Winter #AtoZChallenge #MusicMovesMe

Today, two memes for the price of one.  First, W day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, followed by Music Moves Me (linkup is at the bottom of this post). 

Winter.  It's a large part of our lives where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  Some people like it.  I am not one of them.

I am so happy that spring has finally come, but perhaps we would not appreciate spring so much if we didn't have winter.  So here are some photos of our winter. Several are from my guest photographer, who has a DSLR, and lives out in the country.  Me, I'm more small city, and I use an iPhone.

A flower garden sleeps.

No picnic today.

Ice on the river.

Trees sleep and ice takes over.
 

My guest photographer: rural New York State winter scene.

My guest photographer: a heron she named Harriet. 

My guest photographer: Duck and ice.

Now, it's time for Music, as I join the Music Moves Me bloggers. We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  Why not join us?  Our optional theme for this week is "America’s favorite past time for many starts up again for professional baseball players.  You don’t have to be a fan but it could be fun to pick songs that include the teams’ mascot. Stretch this prompt to fit your play set however you want!" but I am going to choose Songs beginning with W as my theme because I accidentally did the official theme several weeks ago.

From 1969, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Sometimes in Winter.

2004's Wizards of Winter from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 

Finishing with 1967's Wintertime Love from The Doors. 

And that's a wrap! 

W day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme "Beauty of our Land".

 Music Moves Me - here are the participating blogs.  If you have at least one song to share, why not join us?

January vs June #AtoZChallenge #ShadowshotSunday

January - the time of snow and cold where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

June - warm, sometimes hot, full of plant life.

Let's compare the beauty of each in the area where I live.  Is there a winner? 

It's J day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I am also joining Lisa at This and That:  A Blog for her #ShadowshotSunday. Yes, it's Saturday but why not?  Please enjoy the shadows in some of these pictures.

These photos are mainly from years past. 

Shadows on the ground on a January day, complete with male Northern Cardinal on feeder (the little red dot in the middle)  and reflections on the ground.  Sorry for the window reflection spots. 

June, same yard but with a woodpecker. 

January 2020, snow squall, downtown Binghamton, New York. 

June, Broome County Courthouse, downtown Binghamton, New York.

January, snow on a bush. 

June 2024, flower in same yard.

But it's April now, and flowers are back.  Jonquils, April 5. 

All is beautiful. 

J day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Beauty of our Land.
 

January Snow Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Since it's too cold and windy to go outside this weekend, I am using three picture from late January for today's shadows.  I did go outside yesterday to try to do some snow removal, and gave up because the wind kept blowing it back at me. Some days are just like that. 

I can't wait for spring, when the snow will be replaced by plants sleeping underneath their winter blankets.  Right now, though, it feels like winter will last forever.

We are under a extreme cold warning until 1pm today due to wind chills. 

Joining Lisa at This and That:  A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.

 

The Kindness of Neighbors #WordlessWednesday

 Like many in the United States this past weekend, I ended up with over a foot of snow to shovel.  The snow has also resulted in this Not So Wordless Wordless Wednesday post.

Monday dawned, and it was time for snow removal.

For this year we had hired a man to do our snow removal.  My spouse can no longer help with snow removal.   The snow removal person texted us early Monday morning and advised that his snow blower had just broken down.  He wouldn't be able to help us.  Said it was too much to shovel.

We had another service on standby.  We couldn't get hold of them.  (They never did call back).

Someone spouse called recommended we try to contact one of his relatives.  No response.  I'm sure the relative was out doing snow removal.

So, it was up to me.  I bundled up and grabbed my shovel.  The snow was so fluffy and light.  It may have been what skiers call champagne snow.  I made believe it was vanilla ice cream.  I was cutting vanilla ice cream for a nice ice cream sandwich.

But it was a lot of vanilla ice cream and I was making slow progress.  I knew what to do - work in layers.  Each shovel full was to be 1/3 of the snow in front of me.  Shovel, fling snow, repeat. Repeat.  Repeat.   But then, I noticed two things.

First, my driveway had been partially plowed by someone unknown (I still don't know, incidentally.)

And, second, coming up the street on foot was one of my neighbors.  He called out, telling me to wait, he was coming to help me.

This neighbor did more than help me.  He  told me to go inside and rest.  Then he shoveled the rest of my walk.  He did the rest of the driveway.  I thanked him profusely. (Incidentally, he said he wasn't the person who plowed my driveway, but has a suspicion who did it - another neighbor just up the street).

I'm so grateful.  And I'm also hoping it doesn't snow for the next several days.

There is still kindness in this world

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Shadow on Snow #ShadowshotSunday

Now that it's winter, any day with shadows is a treasure.

On December 17, the sun came out, and I captured this shadow on snow.  OK, December 17 is still fall but here, it doesn't matter.

Wishing other shadow photographers a Happy New Year. 

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.

A Snowy Christmas Eve Eve #WordlessWednesday

We are going to have a White Christmas after all.  

These pictures are from yesterday.  

There's snow place like home.  Wishing all my readers who celebrate a seasonal holiday at this time of year much happiness.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Christmas Winter #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

Who are the Music Moves Me Bloggers? 

We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please! Otherwise, your post link may be labeled "No Music" or even removed.)   We have occasional theme weeks, but you are welcome to ignore the theme and use music of your choice.  Why not join us?  You don't have to sing, or play an instrument.  All music lovers are welcome. 

This month's theme is "Whatever Christmas music moves you" . 

Here in the Northern hemisphere, winter began yesterday.  So, it's quite logical, given that so many Christmas songs originated in the snowy places, that many popular Christmas songs mention winter and/or snow.

So, in honor of the winter solstice, some wintry Christmas songs and some that aren't. 

Winter Wonderland was made famous by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, as one of our Music Moves Me bloggers (Debbie Doglady) reminded us earlier in the season, so let's start with this original, recorded in October of 1934. 

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! was first recorded by Vaughn Monroe in 1945.   It was written in the midst of a heat wave.  It was an immediate hit and has been covered by hundreds of artists.

 Of course, there is Irving Berlin's White Christmas, from the 1942 movie Holiday Inn.  It is one of many popular secular Christmas songs written by those of the Jewish faith.  This is the original, sung by Bing Crosby.

Christmas wasn't a happy time for Irving Berlin, though. His newborn son, only three weeks old, died on December 25, 1928.  He would visit his son's grave each Christmas.  

More on this song at this link.

The last three songs are a bit, shall we say, out of the ordinary. 

I fell in love on first listening of this song,  The Midnight Piper of Midwinter, from H.A.i. lander/H3rbBeatz"and decided to use it although the video, and possibly the song, apparently, was AI generated. You Tube has labeled this as synthetic content. Still....what do you think?

Here, for real, because You Tube brought this to my attention, is The Altai Band from Mongolia and a Mongolian version of Jingle Bells.  Lots of snow here but the singers seem so warm and snug.

For my last song I am deviating from my own theme.

Finally, just because I can, is a twisted favorite of mine, Weird Al Yankovic and his 1986 now-classic song Christmas at Ground Zero.  This is a parody of Phil Spector "wall of sound"  songs that came about because Weird Al's record label kept insisting that he record a Christmas album.  This song was the result.

And that's a Christmas wrap!  Oh wait, not yet.  There's a bonus song for you. 

The Waitresses and Christmas Wrapping. 

I wish all my readers who celebrate Christmas a most happy one.

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Spring Approach Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Yesterday, as we started to defrost where we live, plus enjoyed some sun, I went to a nearby park in the early afternoon.

 

Shadows on the snow and ice are getting shorter.

Meanwhile, my shadow starts to shrink as spring approaches.

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventure for #ShadowshotSunday.

Boxing Day Snow Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

 Shadows on snow at a local park December 26.

The sun made an appearance.  You can see a lot of sledding tracks plus tree shadows.

But when I was there, the park was empty.

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for her #ShadowshotSunday.

Thinking of the Coming Winter #MusicMovesMe.

 It's Monday, and it's time for music.

Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us at the linky below). We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please! Otherwise, your post may be labeled "No Music".)   

Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.

Every other week, we have a theme.  On alternate weeks, we can blog on any music theme we want. This week's theme is picked by Xmas Dolly and is:  a winter related theme to build our music around.  Think cold weather, sports, snow, snuggling with your friends, or anything that says winter to you.

As my regular readers know, I hate winter, which is why I live in a place where winter is long and cloudy.

Winterlude - Bob Dylan, from 1970, is more than a song about winter.

The Bangles and their cover of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Hazy Shade of Winter." As a Simon and Garfunkel fan, I have to admit I like this cover better.

What could be the opposite of winter?  Well, dreaming of something warmer.  Here are the Mamas and the Poppas with their 1965 hit California Dreaming.

Now for a brief intermission.

Not quite a musical selection, but I have to share this 1958 Barrel Jumping competition video.  Well, it does have music. 

This doesn't, but it supposedly is from 1897.  "Snowball Fight". 

Back to our theme, with the Doors and Wintertime Love, from 1968.

 Finally, a tribute to the Winter Olympics, here is Andrea Bocelli at the Turin 2006 closing ceremony singing Because We Believe.  

And that's a wrap!

Remember, I may not get to you right away, but I will.  Eventually.  Thank you for your patience.

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.

Graupel Skies #SkywatchFriday

I knew winter would return.  And it did, to where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

Despite our unusual, warmer than normal winter, spring can't get a foothold.  Not yet, anyway.  On the first day of spring, we had a dusting of snow.  The next day, winter decided that wasn't enough.

It was Graupel Time.

Graupel, also known as corn snow, is (according to Wikipedia) "precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets in air are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming 2–5 mm balls".  It's more common here than one might think.

Knowing we would be under snow squall warnings by 1pm on Wednesday, we took our exercise walk early.  Here's a bird's next up against a white snow-is-coming sky. 

After lunch, we took another walk.  The blue sky wasn't going to last long.

Uh oh, the storm is approaching.  Time to head on in.

Here comes the graupel.

A closeup, as the temperature dropped from 47F (8.3C) to 35F (1.7C).

And the sky as graupel turned into regular snow.

We didn't get a lot of snow, as it turned out.  The sun even came out again later in the day.  But yesterday, it was cold and breezy.  Today should be cold, too.

It's no surprise that winter isn't done with us yet.

Joining Yogi and other sky watchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Snow and Sun #ShadowshotSunday

 After a day in the deep freeze, we are going to be back above freezing.

Plants from my flower garden covered in snow, February 17.

Several days later, shadows on the Vestal Rail Trail.  Our snow is almost all melted.

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for #ShadowshotSunday.  Why not come out of the shadows, if you have one or more shadowy pictures, and join us?

Snowy Thoughts #ThursdayTreeLove

Snow has not been common this winter where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State.  I would estimate we've gotten less than half the snow we normally get.  I'm noting here that our record snowfall for a winter season was 135.2 inches (343 cm)  in the winter of 2016-2017. 

But I finally have some snow pictures for you.  And some thoughts.

A tree shadow in snow.

A close up.

Love that deep blue sky after a snow.

Evergreen bushes.

And now, the thoughts.

According to our local National Weather Service office, Lakes Erie and Ontario have less than 2% ice cover.  This is important, because we are prone to what are called lake effect snows, fed by moisture from those lakes. At this time of year, the lakes should still be frozen over and in those circumstances, we don't get those lake effect snows. 

This winter, I don't think those lakes ever froze over. I think the highest in mid-January they were about 13% frozen over.  They should have been 60-70% frozen over, if not more. 

No ice cover now means we may be getting set up for a major dump of snow in March, and possibly even April.

So?

April snows, when they happen, are heavy.  Trees break and fall on cars and on houses.  Bad for the trees.  Bad for houses and cars and those who get in the way of the falling trees.  It's dangerous.

Also, there is a total eclipse of the sun on April 8, and the area of totality will cross New York State (it won't be total where I live, alas).  Thousands of tourists are expected in cities such as Buffalo and Rochester, both of which are in the zone of totality.  And both cities are near these lakes and both cities are known for their snowfall.

Buffalo's record snowfall in a winter, for example, is 199.4 inches (506 cm)

This may get interesting for those who love trees.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food for her #ThursdayTreeLove.

The Bones of Winter #ThursdayTreeLove

“I prefer winter and fall when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show.”- Andrew Wyeth.

We've had all kinds of weather this past week - snow, ice, rain.  It's been a good week to stay inside - fortunately, I haven't had to go out much.

Snowy backyard. 

Dark eyed juncos, a bird that lives further north but winters here, flocked to our snow laden feeders.  The males are black on top and white on the bottom while the females are more grey on top and white on the bottom. They seem to be more common when there is snow on the ground.  

We did see sun at the beginning of the week.  I admired another Norwegian maple.  Doesn't this tree look battle scarred, with all its missing limbs?  Yet, it perseveres. 

The bones of winter.

Now, it's staying above freezing, and that means more rain but I am not complaining.

A day without ice or snow coming down is a good day.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food for her twice a month #ThursdayTreeLove.

Snow At Last #ThursdayTreeLove

"The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination" - Terri Guillemets. 

I know readers of Parul's #ThursdayTreeLove have been waiting for photos of trees covered in snow since a number of participants live in climes where snow is not part of their winters.

Sunday and Monday, we finally got enough of a snowstorm to make it happen.

Doesn't it look like a winter wonderland?  These pictures were taken Monday.

These pictures look like they were taken in black and white.  I assure you, they were not.

A birds-eye view of a backyard.

Here's a closeup of the snow.  It was heavy and clumpy.  I'm grateful I didn't have to shovel it.

Trees share their beauty with us all year long.  Where I live, many trees bloom in the spring.  In summer, they provide shade and cover for birds and animals.  In fall, many of our trees sense the decreasing daylight, their signal to go into winter hibernation. Before their leaves fall, the leaves shed their green and show their true colors - yellow, rust, red.  The leaves, once on the ground, compost and enrich the soil.  The mulch they create also protects the roots of perennial plants.

In winter, they provide places for birds and squirrels to store food.  Squirrels build nests in trees as year round homes.

These trees may seem to be fast asleep but, in reality, amazing things are happening beneath the surface to allow those trees to survive winter.

Nature is amazing.

Meanwhile, as of today, the snow is almost all gone. Our up and down winter continues.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food this second Thursday of January for #ThursdayTreeLove.

After the Frost

On the morning of November 1, we had our first frost.  This morning, we had our first freeze, and a dusting of snow (I haven't gone out yet to face it.)

The end of the growing season always brings sadness to my heart.  

But there is also beauty. 

Frost on sage leaves.

Frost on euphorbia.

Astilbe leaves.

More leaves.

Toad lily flowers survived in our back yard but they probably didn't survive the freeze this morning.  I haven't looked yet.

For Halloween, we had the grand total of 10 trick or treaters.  Anyone for candy?

Yesterday, we had snow showers (above freezing so it didn't stick) and some sleet.  Maybe it was just as well as the town sent the leaf vacuum machine down the street yesterday.  It was a little premature, I think.  Many leaves still haven't fallen so we are fortunate we didn't get more than a dusting of snow.

Now, we'll have to get to work and rake up our lawn.

No matter what the calendar says, winter has arrived.

RIP fall.