One of the many delightful things about living in upstate NY is just how magical it is when it snows. We experienced the first big snow in mid-December (which also caused our first power outage) but it ended up disappearing before Christmas so we didn’t get the white Christmas we had imagined.
Then in early January, there was a big storm in the forecast, although it wasn’t clear how much snow or when exactly it might begin. In true Seattle fashion, we made sure to stock up on plenty of food beforehand and we filled up some bins and jugs with water, just in case the power went out.
On this particular weekend, we needed to take care of a few chores at the cabin and it looked like the storm wasn’t going to happen until about 6pm or so. So that Saturday morning, we headed over to Preston Hollow, making a pit stop for pie at the Apple Barrel store, to take down the Christmas decorations. We ended up stopping at one of the thrift/antique stores in Scoharie that was going out of business and we were hungry so got a late lunch at the Greek Restaurant too. Ultimately we took a bit longer than expected, which is pretty typical for us. As you might imagine, about half way home, the snow started and it didn’t end up stopping until the next day. I happened to be driving us home and got some good snow driving practice although, our wiper washing fluid was frozen (a whole other story) and it was coming down pretty hard!
Side note – we have been struggling with frozen windshield wiper fluid ever since the middle of Wyoming. We bought a jug of wiper fluid that has antifreeze in it but did we actually put it in the car? No and why is that? Because we keep forgetting until it is frozen again! Hahaha.
We got home safely, tucked the car into the garage and started up a fire in the wood stove. I often revisit this notion of living our very own Hallmark movie and that is exactly what it feels like when it snows here!
Sunday morning, we woke up to the most beautiful winter wonderland and were greeted by our plow guy – yes, we have a plow guy because this way we don’t get plowed in from the main road or get trapped here. Later in the day we took a snowy nature walk around the property to get some fresh air and enjoy our cozy little forest.
Seeing everything blanketed with snow just changes the environment so dramatically! Each and every branch of the trees are accentuated, the insulating nature of the snow dampens any sound and makes things quieter and louder at the same time. We can also see exactly which critters have been around and where they are going. So far we’ve seen deer, fox, rabbit, and squirrels – mostly the squirrels themselves rather than their teeny tiny tracks.
NY snow is different from Seattle snow – since there is snow here every winter, it is rather uneventful and not much fanfare, we could have very easily driven the next day as the roads are immediately plowed and salted. In Seattle, of course life grinds to a screeching halt, for good reason but it can take the joy out of an otherwise magical experience.
Since then, we experienced a few of our coldest days – a high of 11 degrees and then a week later it became unusually warm at nearly 50 degrees so most of our snow was gone. The good news is it snowed again so we are back to our quiet and peaceful winter wonderland. This time we don’t need the plow as it is only about 4 inches or so.
I think that is how it goes – or rather, comes and goes – a bunch of snow, then back to green and lush and then snowy again…. Until spring. Enjoy all the winter wonderland photos here!
