Igloos and Snowmen

Today one of my nephews posted pictures online of a small igloo he and his wife and children built in their yard in New Hampshire. 

Meanwhile all the way across the continent California is also seeing a lot of snow. Today my son-in-law drove our three grandkids inland far enough to play in the snow. John reports: "We tried to go to Palomar Mountain but they blocked the road. So we wound up at William Heiss Park in Julian, CA."

The modern igloo pictures reminded me of this old ten minute film of a couple of Inuit folks building a real full size igloo.  I used to show this to my students when we studied Native Americans in fourth grade. 

A Late Afternoon Riverwalk

Sheila and I needed to check Mother's house after several very cold days. All was fine. Since we were coming from West Rome, rather than starting our evening walk from home we decided to park at the Mount Berry Trailhead near the post office and start there. There must have been a dozen cars in the lot; we were not the only folks ready for a walk in the not quite so cold weather.

There was still plenty of ice about though the dusting of snow was gone except in the deepest shadows.

There only a few icy/snowy spots along the riverwalk.

This fall/winter collection of debris under the Veterans Parkway bridge has a torrent of water streaming around the eastern side.

The highway department will have a pretty big job clearing this out.

We walked all the way to the temporary end of the trail at the new Big Dry Creek bridge. When the short stretch of riverwalk from the bridge to the Armuchee Bypass is completed the Riverwalk will be a complete circuit for our backyard to the confluence on the west side, upstream to the stadium, across to the west side by the bypass bridge and back to our house. All that with no road crossings. Wow.

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It was almost dark by the time we got back to the pond near the trailhead.

A beautiful end to a nice walk.

 

White (Second Day Of) Christmas!

 I'm seventy-five years old and I still get a little excited over a dusting of snow.

So I walked out and took a few pictures. I may just call the grandgirls -- they're on California time -- and show them some snow. They spent part of Christmas Day at the beach!

Later...

We walked around the yard as we FaceTimed with Clemmie, Ruth, Suzie, and Brannon. And Granny even made the girls a (minimalist) snowman atop a concrete bench...

Gleaning Facebook: Snow!

I am hopeful that the entire ill-conceived shopping center project planned for this site will fall through. This is our property, the citizens of Rome GA and our representatives should not sell this wonderful wetland and natural area in our city's center. The following pictures are of more of the Burwell Creek wetland and surrounding parkland.

The science teacher in me wanted to take this picture. Why is the snow slightly deeper over the white lines in the church parking? The white reflected more of the sun's heat during the day and so was cooler and the snow "stuck" quicker there than on the warmer black asphalt.

I first knew this as the home of Lewis and Dot Walden and their sons Jimmy and Gordon. Gordon is one of my high school classmates of 1965 and a fellow Trinity MYFer.
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Gordon Walden
Thanks Terry. Great pics of my home, granddad's

Gordon Walden
and Trinity my home church. I just hope your power remained on.

Terrell Shaw
I almost feel a little guilty reporting that we had one of the most beautiful snows ever, while our friends and relatives to the south of us were dealing with downed trees and power lines and loss of electricity! And by last night the roads here'bouts were mostly clear and the majority of the snow had melted.

Gordon Walden
We had a beautiful snow here and it was just about all gone after the kids had some time to play in it. Some of the folks at my church love your photos!

 

Go to www.coosa.org and make a contribution to support our efforts to protect the most biologically diverse river system in America - the Coosa River Basin. This small wetland is right in downtown Rome. What a treasure!

Can you think of many things more wasteful than bulldozing mountains of earth to fill this beautiful wetland so it can become a parking lot?

The Burwell Creek winds out of Blossum Hill and Jackson Hill (two of Rome's famous Seven Hills) before emptying into the Oostanaula directly across the river from my home. Its wetland helps to store flood waters, helps to filter pollutants and debris that would otherwise dirty our rivers, provides habitat for fascinating critters and green things, and connects our Jackson Hill public natural, recreational, and historical area with Ridge Ferry Park. Those three parts make up our "Central Park".

The white "S" shape in the lower right is a beaver dam.

See Spring peeking out of the buds.  Fox, beaver, deer, heron, hawk, rabbit, salamander, crayfish, tree frog, turtle, even an occasional bear frequent the Burwell Creek area.

This wetland area would be a packing lot if the developers have their way. Join CRBI at www.coosa.org to help save this wild land for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.

Gleaning Facebook: Snow

I couldn't help myself. I ventured out with tripod and little digital camera to enjoy this beautiful snow. I walked down Avenue A to Turner McCall, then up to the Riverwalk and down it to Fifth Avenue, then to Broad and down it to the Town Green (White) then to 2nd Ave, back to the Riverwalk all the way home.I am so sorry for those south of us who got the ice instead. This is gorgeous. So now I have a hundred pics or more to go through. I'll be posting a few more later tonight.

Carla Byram
Trinity pics? 

Michelle Moriarty Smith
Can't wait to see more!

Terrell Shaw
Yep. Editing Trinity pics now.

Jane Jameson
You make me miss Rome. Sounds like a great walk. Please say, "Hello" to Rome for me. I remember Rome having sleet more than snow. We had both tonight.

Wendy Ramsey
Excited to see them cause I know they will be awesome

Sharon Reichel
Too bad you wouldn't be able to come up the mountain--it's ethereal--and thankfully Mother Nature is already cleaning up after her bash. I don't even know if yesterday' paper got delivered before the ice--the hill was already past the point of a guaranteed safe trip up to the road. However, in the last hour the driveway is already appearing, snow is plopping, and icicles are crashing down. Out of the house by tomorrow?

And--the power stayed on except for a few blinks.

Terrell Shaw
I may have to buy a Jeep, just so I can get out and about on mornings like this. I really wanted to drive up to Arrowhead and take some pics this morning, but by the time I got out the melt was well underway. I would have really enjoyed the views up on your mountain, I'll bet.

Gleaning Facebook: Lock & Dam Park, Dusted

From the Coosa River Basin Initiative Facebook: