Spring Snow

It has been a colder than normal spring in central Virginia. High temperatures have been in the low 40s whereas they should be in the mid 50s. Yesterday, five days into spring, we got snow. For several hours the snow fell thickly. It looked really beautiful as it fell.

I went to a window and shot a photo through the window. When I looked at the photo I laughed. I hadn’t even noticed the window screen, but the camera’s autofocus had locked onto it perfectly. I went back to the window and shot a photo through the glass in the upper sash, which lacked a screen. This time the image was not marred by a screen; instead, it was marred by small drops of water – former snowflakes that hit the window and instantly melted.

But even had it not been marred, the photo would have been nothing spectacular. A photo taken while snow is falling looks gray, because at a distance the millions of snowflakes are not visible as individual flakes. Instead, they serve to reduce the picture’s contrast. The sky is light gray, the ground is an even lighter-gray, and everything else is some other shade of gray. None of the photos were worth posting. Here, I’ll show you:

<< In this photo, I increased the luminance to brighten the image, and tweaked the hue to make the white’s a little whiter. Yes, I bleached the photo to rid it of a pervasive off-color fog. Even so, the photo still looks most unremarkable.

I had a weird wakeup from sleep this morning. I woke up and went to the kitchen. I fixed breakfast and ate, and did some other morning-type things. Then – I woke up, again, and realized I had still been asleep the first time I thought I had awakened. Once again I went to the kitchen and did my usual morning activities. And then – I woke up, again. This time, for real.

I hope.