Winter Weather

The last week of February has held some wild weather. First, we had snow squalls blowing horizontally by my classroom windows (I am not exaggerating here), then three or four inches of snow in town,-- Snow Day!-- followed by an arctic blast of 15 degrees overnight. Finally, we are returning to Late Winter normal—40’s and drizzle.

It’s not unusual to have a blast of frigid air in Corvallis sometime during the winter; it reminds us of how far north we actaully are. So, we have our systems. I have “frost blanket” of heavy duty remay that we wrap around the bay and the columular apple trees in barrels out front, right in the wind tunnel of house and garage. The larger one is even labeled “bay” – not that you can see it at 8:00 PM when we realize that the tree needs protection. I have an old army blanket and plaid plastic tablecloth that I wrap around the bee hive. And Mark brings the chickens in to roost in the cellar stairwell as our coop is pretty airy, even wrapped in plastic. They are not keen on the move; huge hands reach into the coop in the dark and grab them, tucking wings in under, and deposit them in a strange place that smells of potatoes and wood. There’s quite a bit of conversation between them before we turn out the lights. And again in the morning. Occasionally, one goes exploring….

Before the rains started this morning I went out to unwrap the hive and trees. A few bees were out checking out the morning because the sun had been on them for a bit. You could here them muttering—I know I came out of here somewhere—until the blanket was lifted. The trees came through unscathed, the daphne was beginning to bloom, and the chickens dust bathing under the rabbit hutch. Pre-Spring in Corvallis.