Monochrome Landscape

When I look out a window into my back yard, if I squint I can imagine a bleak high arctic landscape, complete with drifts of snow butting up against each other at odd angles. It's just imagination, since I've never seen the high arctic, but it's more interesting than acknowledging it as a patch of northern Illinois temporarily buried by snow.

The snow drifts aren't imaginary, however. After Saturday's thundersnow -- during which I thought I heard some low rumblings, but those could have been distant snow blowers -- winds and subzero air come to town on Sunday. Little new snow accumulated on the driveway, which made me glad. But a lot accumulated on the other side of the fence, in the back yard, probably driven there by the sharp winds. I had to do some excavating to uncover the sidewalk between the deck and the driveway, and if that spot was typical, there were two-foot drifts in some places.

More snow is due tomorrow. We won't have to worry about not having a white ground cover for the 25th of December, as famed in song and yuletide lore.