South Dakota Winter
07/01/15 05:17
As we drove across South Dakota on Monday we were commenting to one another how winter weather can turn the state monochromatic. It isn’t that the state becomes uninteresting when the clouds descend, the snow falls and visibility is limited. It is just that there is less color than we experience when driving into an autumn sunset or viewing our state in the throes of springtime. Dick Kettlewell, a photographer who often has his work published in our local paper, says that winter is the season for black and white photography and he has a lot of very dramatic photos of the hills and the animals to prove his point.
Black and white and gray was a good description of the day yesterday. Police and fire crews responded to multiple accidents as commuters got going a bit too fast for conditions. I suppose that a few others didn’t fully scrape the ice off their windshields and allow their cars to warm up before heading tho work. It isn’t just that the colors change in the winter around here. Things take longer when it gets cold. We haven’t had it as bad as some other places, but lows in the single digits and highs below freezing means that the snow and ice stick around.
In November, when I was still paddling on the lake in the early part of the month, I thought that this might be a winter when I could add to my paddling season. Even though the lake had a bit of open water in early December, paddling was out of the question because the areas where I could access the lake were iced over. Now it looks like it will take an extended period of warm weather before the lake is liquid enough for paddling. There are some pretty impressive chunks of ice in area creeks as well.
Variation in the weather and the scenery, however, is one of the blessings of living in this place. I can get part of my exercise from shoveling snow. I do, however, tend to stay indoors more and we are drawn to hearty meals, so one has to be careful not to add too many pounds during cold weather. I’ve been known to comment that my body type seems adapted to the snow and cold of winter. I have the layers of fat that bode well for winter survival even in conditions much more harsh that we have around here.
The times, however, are changing. Even though the solstice wasn’t that long ago, the days are getting longer. We’re gaining about a minute and a quarter of daylight each day and by next week we’ll be gaining a minute and a half. We have just over 9 hours of daylight each day. If you are a careful observer, the change is fun to watch.
That doesn’t mean that winter is over - far from it. January and February are typically the coldest months of the calendar for us and we can get spring blizzards well into May around here. That is one of the joys of living in this place. The weather has the capacity to surprise every month of the year.
Today, however, looks to be one of Dick Kettlewell’s days for black and white photography. Although it is currently overcast, however, the forecast calls for clearing skies. Clear skies mean dramatic shadows at this time of the year. The low sun angle means that we all cast long shadows even at noontime. It doesn’t look like there will be much precipitation this week, so the snow should get cleared off and the road conditions should return to reasonable travel conditions. I’m hoping for good roads so I can attend a funeral in Pierre next Monday. So far we’ve been pretty lucky with our winter travel this year. We did delay one firewood delivery, but were able to get it rescheduled within a week and the rest of our trips have gone off without too much trouble on the road. We know we’re not invincible and travel with good equipment and plenty of emergency supplies in the winter. If we were to slide into the ditch and become stuck, we’d be able to wait for help in relative comfort with plenty of warm clothing, a little stove for heat, some food and water and other supplies and good flashlights. Of course I carry tire chains and a shovel whenever venturing out in the winter.
Part of what we do around here in the winter is wait. And waiting has its own value. Of course we don’t live like the indigenous people who spent their winters wrapped in heavy buffalo robes in tipis venturing out only for as long as necessary. We have it much better than the early settlers who became stranded for weeks and even months in remote and isolated homesteads with little for entertainment besides their own wits. Winter doesn’t keep us in all that much. We have good clothes and reliable transportation for all but the most severe weather events. And when the weather does turn really bad, we find ourselves safe in a warm home where we don’t suffer even if the power is lost.
Pico Iyer wrote in a little book that “In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” Perhaps winter waiting is a gift in the midst of a world that is changing at a pace too intense to take in. Maybe slowing down and taking more time to do the things we usually do without any thought is an opportunity to focus our attention on the beauty that is always with us. Black and white days can give us the ability to look more closely and recognize colors better when they return. After all, you have to be paying attention to recognize that the days are getting longer when all we are gaining is a minute and a few seconds each day.
Stay warm. Spring is coming at its own pace. Enjoy the gifts of winter.
Black and white and gray was a good description of the day yesterday. Police and fire crews responded to multiple accidents as commuters got going a bit too fast for conditions. I suppose that a few others didn’t fully scrape the ice off their windshields and allow their cars to warm up before heading tho work. It isn’t just that the colors change in the winter around here. Things take longer when it gets cold. We haven’t had it as bad as some other places, but lows in the single digits and highs below freezing means that the snow and ice stick around.
In November, when I was still paddling on the lake in the early part of the month, I thought that this might be a winter when I could add to my paddling season. Even though the lake had a bit of open water in early December, paddling was out of the question because the areas where I could access the lake were iced over. Now it looks like it will take an extended period of warm weather before the lake is liquid enough for paddling. There are some pretty impressive chunks of ice in area creeks as well.
Variation in the weather and the scenery, however, is one of the blessings of living in this place. I can get part of my exercise from shoveling snow. I do, however, tend to stay indoors more and we are drawn to hearty meals, so one has to be careful not to add too many pounds during cold weather. I’ve been known to comment that my body type seems adapted to the snow and cold of winter. I have the layers of fat that bode well for winter survival even in conditions much more harsh that we have around here.
The times, however, are changing. Even though the solstice wasn’t that long ago, the days are getting longer. We’re gaining about a minute and a quarter of daylight each day and by next week we’ll be gaining a minute and a half. We have just over 9 hours of daylight each day. If you are a careful observer, the change is fun to watch.
That doesn’t mean that winter is over - far from it. January and February are typically the coldest months of the calendar for us and we can get spring blizzards well into May around here. That is one of the joys of living in this place. The weather has the capacity to surprise every month of the year.
Today, however, looks to be one of Dick Kettlewell’s days for black and white photography. Although it is currently overcast, however, the forecast calls for clearing skies. Clear skies mean dramatic shadows at this time of the year. The low sun angle means that we all cast long shadows even at noontime. It doesn’t look like there will be much precipitation this week, so the snow should get cleared off and the road conditions should return to reasonable travel conditions. I’m hoping for good roads so I can attend a funeral in Pierre next Monday. So far we’ve been pretty lucky with our winter travel this year. We did delay one firewood delivery, but were able to get it rescheduled within a week and the rest of our trips have gone off without too much trouble on the road. We know we’re not invincible and travel with good equipment and plenty of emergency supplies in the winter. If we were to slide into the ditch and become stuck, we’d be able to wait for help in relative comfort with plenty of warm clothing, a little stove for heat, some food and water and other supplies and good flashlights. Of course I carry tire chains and a shovel whenever venturing out in the winter.
Part of what we do around here in the winter is wait. And waiting has its own value. Of course we don’t live like the indigenous people who spent their winters wrapped in heavy buffalo robes in tipis venturing out only for as long as necessary. We have it much better than the early settlers who became stranded for weeks and even months in remote and isolated homesteads with little for entertainment besides their own wits. Winter doesn’t keep us in all that much. We have good clothes and reliable transportation for all but the most severe weather events. And when the weather does turn really bad, we find ourselves safe in a warm home where we don’t suffer even if the power is lost.
Pico Iyer wrote in a little book that “In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” Perhaps winter waiting is a gift in the midst of a world that is changing at a pace too intense to take in. Maybe slowing down and taking more time to do the things we usually do without any thought is an opportunity to focus our attention on the beauty that is always with us. Black and white days can give us the ability to look more closely and recognize colors better when they return. After all, you have to be paying attention to recognize that the days are getting longer when all we are gaining is a minute and a few seconds each day.
Stay warm. Spring is coming at its own pace. Enjoy the gifts of winter.