Sunday 8 December 2013

Open Water


    I am happy to announce that the cold temperatures we have been experiencing have begun to moderate.  The clear skies are gone, it is snowing and a balmy -15C (5F).  While that might sound cold, after the -29C (-22F), it does feel a whole lot more tolerable outside.  After a few days of refraining from much outside activities, this morning Skye and I did walk most of our trail.
    I haven’t taken the trouble to measure how much ice is on the pond, but I would suspect that it is at least 8 inches, (20 cm) thick.  Despite that, I am always gratified to see that this small patch of open water, you see in the photo, is in fact still open.  It is where the outflow of our waterline drains into the pond.  During the winter we keep the water flowing so our waterline doesn’t freeze.  I have always been amazed that a little flow of water will keep the line from freezing, even in really cold temperatures.
    Having lost our water during a few winters in the past, it is one of my main concerns during the winter.  Having a foot (30cm)  or so of snow on the ground also is a big help, since it insulates the ground.  At present we only have about 4 inches (10cm), which isn’t a whole lot, so I hope that we will be getting another dump of snow before the next cold snap.

Visit my website to see my paintings:  www.davidmarchant.ca

No comments:

Post a Comment