Well, crap. The snow is back.

The Return of the Cold Evil White Stuff

This wind-blown snow at the edge of Squaw Bay on Lake Monona has been built up into a layered crust sturdy enough to bear my weight when I cross it on a pair of skis. I could easily ride across the thinnest layers, but broke through the thickest layers, about four inches deep. Skiing across it became a tedious exercise in climbing back on top of the crust after breaking through.

The snow on Squaw Bay was much easier to break a trail through, not layered and crusted over like this at all.

A view of downtown Madison from the farthest edge of Lake Monona.

Flaking Out

New snow falling on the corner of South Hamilton Street.

Looking Down Main Street On A Snowy Evening

That's Genna's on the left with the Tornado Lounge just behind it, and Inn On The Square on the right.

New Snow

The capital under floodlight as snow falls on cap square.

How Cold Is It?

In the fall, the frost is on the pumpkin, but in the dead of winter, it's on all the windows and around the joints of the doors. This was our front door last night at five below zero.

Winter's Officially Here

Our first morning waking up to a blanket of snow on the ground.

Skimmed Over

We've had a little more than a week of temperatures below freezing, so that the ponds on the golf course along the edge of Monona Drive have finally begun to freeze over.

Ice glazing a porch rail, spotted behind Star Liquors on Willy Street when we made our semiweekly stop to resupply our beer locker (the gap between our back door and the storm door).

To prove his manliness, Tim makes a trip to the composter in his bare feet across the ice-covered deck

It's a short trip, less than ten feet, but by the time he went out & back he couldn't feel his toes.

That's what you get when you answer a double-dog dare.

Ice-glazed trees around Grace Episcopal Church

Evening Snowfall on Cap Square

Capital Dome In The Falling Snow

The leafy veins of a bronze sculpture in Olbrich Gardens fill with new-fallen snow.

First Snow

It hardly amounts to more than a dusting,
but this snow fell last night and it was still there this morning.

Where Once There Was Snow

Two weeks ago we had lots of snow and temps in the twenties. I snapped a picture so I could remember what it was like, knowing it was a sure bet that it'd all be gone soon and we'd have anything but a white Christmas. I don't miss the sub-freezing temps, but these snowless weeks leading up to Christmas exacerbate my chronic grumpiness. Ho-ho-ho.

Capital Square, Mid-Afternoon

... the snow began.

The Snows Kept Coming

Once it got started it built up quickly.