Controlled Burn...We Hope

There are two hundred acres of commercial pine forest behind our home, and the owner set the part directly behind us on fire today.



We own about an acre and a half of the woods on the far side of our pond. It slopes downhill to a small stream, with a logging road on the other side of it. It looks like the fire was set in the forest along the logging road. You can see in the pictures how close that is.



From our pond-side bench, we could hear the men working on setting it. From what I've read, controlled burns are part of pine forest management. We have to trust that they know what they're doing, and I know that controlled burns are regulated, but it was scary close.



I mean, if you saw the scene below from your house, wouldn't you be concerned about how competent the people who set it might be?



A couple who lives down the road saw us outside and stopped to ask us if we knew what was going on. They were worried, of course, since it was close to their home too. Fortunately, we had seen it last year so knew it was done on purpose.

We never actually smelled the smoke. I went down to the far side of the pond, and I could see the fire and hear it crackling, but I couldn't smell it. It was really surprising, and very reassuring, since we know they'll be doing more of it, and my husband is sensitive to all types of smoke. We're wondering if they had to wait for a day when the winds were blowing away from the handful of homes in our little area. It's also supposed to rain tomorrow, so maybe that's part of how they selected the day. It would be interesting to know, and this isn't a heavily populated area, so I imagine some day we'll meet someone who knows how it works.

In the meantime, I'm just going to imagine that the people who are doing it are all highly trained professionals who have the equipment to handle it if, say, the wind should suddenly shift. I'm pretty good at deluding myself, so that's working for me so far...

Light in Red Clay Land

Much as I curse the Carolina red clay when it's ground into my carpets and bedspreads, or when it turns our white cat a blushing pink, it does produce beautiful colors when the light is right.



We're in the spring stage where the buds are starting to show promise, and a few small bulbs the previous owners planted are coming up. Down the street, a cherry tree is in full bloom, and the Bradford pears in so many yards here are greening up.



On the other hand, we have to lose an hour of sleep tomorrow to the time change. My husband tries every year to convince me that this is a good thing because we'll have light for longer in the evening, but all I know is that it's an hour of lost sleep, and as he will be happy to tell you, I don't handle lost sleep well.

Nature Is A Quick-Change Artist

Last Saturday morning, our little world looked like this. This is one of several abandoned houses along our South Carolina country road.



It didn't feel like we were living in the South.



And now we're back...two days later it looks like this again.

Pretty, Pretty Snow

I can't resist more pictures of our snow. I don't know why, since so many other people out there have much more dramatic pictures of much bigger snowfalls...but this is MY snow.



I think the birds below are scoping out the cracked corn we just put out for the ducks.



Here's a comparison to the original picture of the front of the house while the snow was starting to fall yesterday evening.

Our big hardship so far has been that the snow somehow prevented our local NBC affiliate from showing the Olympic opening ceremonies in HD. This hurt my husband deeply.



And a shot of our country lane. Doesn't it look like an old-time Christmas postcard?

A pickup truck just went by! The road should be clear enough for our little car soon.

The Danger of Being Smug

So...I've been watching the news of the storms up north, thinking how smart we were to move to Georgia, then South Carolina, when we came back from overseas, instead of to the D.C. area. No more snow...no more shoveling...no more icy roads.

Oops.



I guess this is my punishment. It started snowing around 4:00 p.m. today. These pictures were taken after it had been snowing about an hour, and we've got probably about 2 inches now. They say we've got at least several more hours to go, so I'm guessing we'll end up with 4 inches or more.



The schools closed early today. That may seem like an over-reaction but, trust me, if you think people drive badly in snow where you are....



The cats and goats are completely freaked out, since of course they've never seen snow. It does snow here occasionally but we've only had a light dusting once in the five years we've lived in this area.



It sure is pretty, though, and we're snuggled with the cats watching it come down, with a 3-day weekend ahead. Life is pretty good...

Sun Shines...

The sun is actually shining here in South Carolina today, after several cold and rainy days. I know what we've had is nothing compared to a lot of the rest of the country, but the sun feels really good anyway. Halley, the white cat above, was sunning herself on the porch...until Irving came along, at least. They may look peaceful in the picture, but trust me, her peace will not last.

The goats were peaceful too, lying calmly in the sun. Until I stepped out to take their picture, of course. I always forget that our presence signals treats of some kind, so my goat pictures normally look something like this.



Or this....I didn't manage to catch her tongue darting out to taste the camera, drat it.



As I write this, they're back lying down in the pasture, but will I ever get that picture? Nooooo....

Scenes From a Pond

The light over the pond was luminous this morning. It highlit all the golds and reds in the landscape, and treated us to spectacular views in between waves of dark clouds presaging the insistent rain we've seen most of today.




I can't get over the way the light changes the landscape. Outside my window right now, the grass appears a dull buff color under the dark clouds, but this morning, it was a range of vibrant colors.



Even the leafless trees add line and definition to the scene.

Early in the morning, after dawn, the light changed the grass to a deep reddish-orange.

I knew we would love this land in the warmer months, but I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful in the winter light.

This Isn't Supposed to Happen Here

It was 16 degrees last night, and the pond froze. This is SOUTH CAROLINA. We're not supposed to have frozen ponds.

When we bought the house, my husband asked the owner, who's lived in the area his whole life, if the pond ever froze. He said confidently, "Oh, that could never happen here."

We didn't think it would happen either, because the pond is spring-fed, so always has water moving through it. It didn't occur to us that...duh...the springs would freeze.



That's the first time Irving has seen ice. All around the pond, the small springs feeding it are iced over. Irving put a paw out to walk on it, then thought better of it, and padded all the way around. I'm sorry to admit that I had the camera ready to capture his first experience walking on ice, but it was not to be.

Only about a third of the pond froze, so the ducks still have plenty of space, but the frozen part near the shore was thick enough that I could stand on it (briefly and cautiously).



I love how the ice swirled in the frozen parts, probably because of that moving water.

It's beautiful, but I'm ready for spring.

It's Not Supposed To Be This Cold Here!

It was 12 degrees here in sunny South Carolina this morning. We're down on the border with Georgia, and it's just not supposed to be this cold here. I know those of you in the north of the country get this all the time, but we're not set up for it down here.

Yesterday morning one of our well water pipes froze. We ran around in a panic, with no idea what to do. My husband finally took a hair dryer to it and got the water started again. We went out to the store to get insulation for it, and came back to find the electricity out. Fortunately, that didn't last for long. I can imagine that people all over this area are suffering from broken water pipes and broken heaters, so we definitely got off lucky.

The goats' water was so frozen this morning that my husband had to take a hammer to it. (We're still looking for a water bucket warmer to keep this from happening. Apparently they're not big sellers in this area.)

Hope everyone out there is staying safe and warm!