Deep Freeze

 

Baldpate Mountain Summit

26 January 2025

There was no snow here last winter. In December there were a few dustings, and then, from Sunday afternoon until the small hours of Monday morning, we got the real thing. It started with rain, then sleet, creating a skin of icy snow on the ground that my shovel could not remove. Our front yard and driveway get no direct sun. The skin lasted all week.

The temperature had dropped into the teens by the time I went out to shovel after the storm. I paused a few times to get pictures of whatever yard glass wasn't covered in snow. 

That this balloon thing hasn't tipped over in the wind is a testament to its weight.

Saint Polychromatous is at its best in the winter, when there's no other color around.

Left to right (in back and in front): Saint Orbitus, Saint Cullet, Saint Miscellaneous, Saint Polychromatous, and Saint Vitreous.

The top of Saint Cullet:

In the winter, when sunrise is at a reasonable hour and the sun is to the south, I can get high-cloud sunrise photos from my bedroom window. That happened on Thursday morning, when I had to get Jack to an early train to Philadelphia.

Later, he posted a picture of the iced-over Delaware River as the train was stopped on the bridge.

One isn't supposed to blog about work, but it is a strange thing when your boss asks your age and you already know what he's getting at before he's finished the question.

Being housebound and between glassblowing classes, I finally uploaded to Etsy the 10 pieces of jewelry I'd made during brief quiet periods over the past few years. Having very nearly weaned myself off of Facebook (where I will eventually link this post), I haven't bothered to advertize it there. If Jack's Facebook feed is any measure, a photo he posted of Clementine got an order of magnitute more attention on Bluesky. Which I'm not joining either. 

There's only so much doomscrolling I can do these days. I'm reading a lot more books and catching up on the pile of Science issues that show up every week. I subscribed as a grad student in the '90s and somehow managed to hang onto the student rate for years. When I was given the automatic renewal option for even less money, I took it. I read the news section. My favorite articles deal with pompous scientists who get busted for fraud or employee abuse. Having been on the receiving end of said abuse, I'm happy to see anyone pay the price.

Anyway, with my driveway as the proxy for any shaded road we might want to take our bikes on, I opted for a club hike today instead. Starting from the entrance on Pleasant Valley Road, we clomped through the snow to the top of Baldpate Mountain.

Our Jeff took us on a detour to a little hut by a frozen pond. I think he said it was a fishing hut. Debbie V and Heddy investigated before I went down for photos.

We went to the summit, above the Kuser mansion, and looked west towards Pennsylvania.

As we were hiking, the temperature went well above freezing, finally. I was even sweating a little towards the end. As we schmoozed in the parking lot, a mountain biker made his way up a side trail in the snow. A fellow on a gravel bike turned in to take a break and use the trash can. As he pedaled away, I said, "So much nope." Martin countered that he might get out on his bike this afternoon. I passed that biker and two more on my drive home. Hmph. I suppose I could have been more badass than I was today, but I've been wanting to hike more, so whatever.

When I got home, half of the driveway snow had melted. Maybe we'll get out on our bikes next weekend, if it doesn't rain.