Friday and Saturday brought our first significant snow fall of the year and from the looks of the forecast we’ll have a white Christmas this year. Racey and I had a laugh out loud moment when we said hello to the pigs on Saturday morning after we got almost two feet of snow. The temperature has been hovering just around freezing so the pigs were out and about, but the snow was deeper than the pigs! The pigs were all walking in a line, following the lead pig around, and for whatever reason the lead pig was trying to catchup to the pig in front of her on their circular path. Racey and I laughed at the merry-go-round procession of pigs grunting and snorting their way through a circle in the snow.
Once they heard our chuckles and noticed our movement as they peered over the banks of snow, the orderly circle game disintegrated and new paths were forged up the hill towards us. They were as orderly and single-filed as I’ve ever seen a group of pigs as I loaded up my buckets of grain and poured out breakfast. As we cleaned and filled water and forked out hay for bedding, the pigs packed down the snow and the usual porcine spontaneity resumed. Racey and I returned to the house for some snow plowing and generator setup.
This storm was not unexpected, and in some ways highly anticipated. The child in me loves a big snow fall. It is still so much fun to have huge piles of snow to play in, and even the pigs had a jovial playful attitude towards the new snow. Nevertheless, big and heavy snow falls often result in extended power outages and laborious snow plowing that is work I would trade for snow forts and skiing any day. I’m thankful for the wonder of weather reports, this time I felt just about prepared.
I’m a weather nerd. In part because my job depends on it, and also because I love the undeniable evidence that despite incredible processing power and tremendous resources the best we can do with the weather report is guess. Climate and earth systems are so beautiful for this reason. They cannot be known, only understood and appreciated. And still the scientist in me loves watching the evolution of the weather report. For me the square icons of rain, snow, sun and clouds are mere caricatures. I want the essay, the debate, the questions without answers. So I turn to a tiny hyperlink hidden at the bottom of any NOAA weather forecast page: the Forecast Discussion. Above is a screenshot I sent to my brother early in the week in anticipation of a snow day for the kids on Friday and potentially some fun skiing to be had.
There are many technical terms and jargon but always a sense of humor and perspective that reminds me who is ultimately behind the weather forecast: a real human weather scientist. At the bottom of the forecast discussion page they even list the last name of the person writing. Thank you Hastings and Taber and all the other folks at NOAA for your continued enthusiasm for the weather that makes growing food possible.
Happy Holidays, we will take next week off, so there will be no weekly note and we will not be fulfilling orders. Thank you.
Reber Rock Farm Blog 