Sunshine and Snow

FTLComm - Tisdale - Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Yesterday I mentioned that it was the start of the storm season but it is also the best part of the winter. Each day is longer and the sun is warmer and brighter. Even today's ten knot breeze seems gentle because the sun beats down on the snow covered countryside. (Besides being a great time to get outside it is also a time for sunglasses) The picture on the right shows the shadows from the

11:00 sun in the Cenotaph park while above we look out over the Doghide near the North end of town. This house now almost a year old sits across from St. Theresa park and is decorated with the blown snow from yesterday. Harvest Valley Terminal seemed to be glistening in this morning's bright sunlight with a backdrop of high altostratus cloud.

About three or four miles East of Tisdale I turned off highway #3 onto this South bound grid and the dramatic beauty of the shadows and drifts create this temporary world of white wonder. Two miles South the poplars shadows are warped into the ditch with a fair amount of drifted snow on the road's surface.

When I got out of the car to catch the picture above looking West I could see the sun reflecting off the Louis Dreyfus terminal. This farm below has erected a large rock to identify their yard but the snow clings to it and the yards spruce shelter belt as though plastered their in place.

Further South several fields are defined with rows of trees down their fence line. Though these trees suck up moisture and steal the sunlight from crops nearby they offer a minor break and slow down the harsh winds catching blowing snow and soil. The picture below is taken at the same location looking to the West side of the road across the flat prairie stretching toward the Doghide.

The little Doghide over the ages has cut itself a serious little valley as we look West across it toward highway #35. Most winters the drifts seen below would fill the whole of the ditch but this year they are modest and demure.

This farm house with its great trees sits just above the Doghide. The folks who live here obviously enjoy winter as you can see the snowmobile tracks around the yard and a covered machine sitting beside the house. The picture below is just a few hundred feet West looking into the little valley while the picture at the top of the page is just before the

bridge. If you look really close at the centre of the picture you may find a horse or two. Directly West of the Harvest Valley agro centre is the rising land with the farm yard near the crest of the hill. You can just make out the white lines of the plowed snow in the field to catch the snow and reduce drifting over their road.