February Snow, and the Return of Socks the Cat!

Socks the Cat, looking a little bigger than he did last Summer.

The weather here lately has been the standard 40F/4C and clouds / rain. "Forty degrees and rain" -- our usual Seattle winter weather. It's dull weather, and the combination of rain and cold is the thing I hate the most about weather here.

A couple weeks ago, however, we got a surprise -- two days of SNOW!

My back yard turned into a Winter wonderland.

Looking down a side street -- elsewhere in my blog, I have sunrise pictures taken from this angle. This time, it was snow. Winter had finally arrived. Then, two days later -- it was gone.

This past winter hasn't been all that much like a winter -- I could almost count the number of frozen mornings using the fingers on both of my hands. When I was young, frozen mud puddles and frosty mornings were more common. This winter we've had maybe 15 of them -- if that. Night time temperatures have been cold, though -- most nights being as cold as 32-35 degrees F (0-3C). A couple nights were in the 20's. But most nights since late January it's been 40 degrees and rain.

The snow was unusual, and it also was refreshing. It was a light snow, and we got maybe 3-4 inches of it in places (it was thicker in the wind-blown drifts). It lasted two days before the rains returned and the snow all melted.

I took a few photos of it with both of my cameras (my Fuji AX655 and my Nikon L32).

A bigger pic of Sock the Cat, by my hedge. I talked to him, and he just looked at me.

After I called out to Socks, and shook a bowl full of cat food to attract his attention, he walked off on his way.

I also took a photo of Socks the Cat! Socks the Cat is a neighborhood cat who wanders all over the neighborhood. I don't know what his real name is, but I call him Socks, because he's a black cat with white chest, and white paws that look like white socks.

Last Summer I saw him on my front porch, and I've also seen him two blocks away in both directions. I have no idea who owns him. I saw him last summer a couple times, including once when he was eating my cat's food on my front porch. 

Then I didn't see him for a few months. I was worried about him -- we do have coyotes in the area, and sometimes they raid our neighborhood and kill cats.

Socks right before he left my porch. Cat food just wasn't enough to get him to come closer.

The morning of the snow a week and a half ago, I was sleeping in. I awoke to the sound of a cat crying out front, and it didn't sound like any of my own cats. In fact, I thought I heard a cat crying right outside my front door. I looked out my bedroom window, and there he was: Socks the Cat, wanting to come in!

I grabbed my camera and went down to my front door and opened it, and Socks ran off to the hedge that borders my driveway. He stopped, and looked at me. I called out to him, and still -- he just looked at me.

I got a couple photos of him, and put some fresh cat food out for him -- shaking the dish to get his attention -- but he never came up to eat any of it. Then he left.

I have no idea where he went. He probably went home -- wherever that is.

Socks the Cat this past Summer, July 2020. As you can see, he was a bit smaller. I think he was a grown kitten or young adult cat in this pic. When I talk to him, he looks at me, but then takes off. He's a very independent-minded cat.

The snow was a welcome change here from the usual grey skies, 40F temperatures, and rain. I didn't ride my bike out in the snow as I have done in past snowstorms, as I didn't feel like getting cold and wet. Last time I rode my bike in the snow, a couple years ago, my bike's wheels became solid with snow, and it took a while to clear it all off. I went for a walk, though, and took a few pictures, some of which I am posting here.

My outdoor Christmas ornaments, which I still have yet to take down and pack away.

The two to three inches of snow on the bushes and trees made the world a wonderful looking place.

It was 25-26 degrees F (minus 5C) the day of the snow. But because it wasn't raining, it didn't feel all that cold.

The Cedar River with snow -- a pleasant Winterscape.

The bulkhead of the old Highway Bridge, built in 1950 and now used for the local Trail.

A few other people were out on the Trail, enjoying the snow day off work.

As I write this, my Sangean PR-D5 radio is playing WBAP, Fort Worth, Texas -- a well known 50KW station on 820 khz, which is usually blocked by a local station on the same frequency (KGNW, a religious station), which is off the air for maintenance tonight. It's interesting to hear a station from Texas, something that's not exactly common here in the Seattle area. MW DX otherwise has been mediocre here at this location, with nothing spectacular even when I use a loop antenna as a booster for any of my radios.

Here's hoping that all of my readers, both here in the US and other places, are safe and healthy. About one third of my readers are from other parts of the world -- recent check-ins are people from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, the Emirates, and Bangladesh. I have some readers from Germany, Canada, the UK, Russia, France, Turkey, Indonesia, and Australia as well. It's always great to have readers overseas.

Peace to all,

C.C. 2-28-2021