Friday, March 14, 2014

A Winter's Tale



It was the 9th of March and after an unusually cold and snowy winter even for Chicago, the weather finally broke and the temperature soared into the 50s. Folks were walking about town jacket-less, well some of them anyway, and there was a positive vibe coming from most people who thought maybe, just maybe, spring might be right around the corner. Except for the people that is who read the weather report and knew that yet another winter storm was on its way. The weatherman predicted eight to twelve inches of new snow that would re-blanket the ground that was just beginning to reawaken after a long winter's nap.

We awoke the next morning to find that the meteorologists had overestimated the precipitation by about six inches. What did happen was the skies opened up while the temperature was still above freezing. As the mercury dropped, the moisture on the limbs of trees froze and the snow that replaced the rain stuck to the branches and twigs, gently delineating them against the gray morning sky. 

It was a thing of beauty, not missed by friends who captured the scene with their smartphones and posted the pictures over social media.

By the time I grabbed an actual camera and headed out to take my own pictures in Millennium Park across the street, the sun came out and as luck would have it the trees remained covered with their flattering adornment. 


Despite everyone's weariness of the season, even the most ardent summer lover couldn't help but marvel at the scene. 

Today two days later, it was back up to fifty and most of that snow is already gone. Soon enough, the place will look like this:


But not quite yet, it's supposed to snow again tomorrow.

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