March 23, 2005
thaw
I've been fascinated with melting lately. The way something can be totally covered, encrusted, impenetrably and inextricably contained with ice and snow and then it all goes away so cleanly and calmly. It's such a delicate process, this melting, and you can only observe the results, not the effort. It leaves everything just the way the snow and ice found it in the first place. So much so that no one would ever believe the violent and jagged interim status.
It is so cool to watch the changing patterns of white on greenish brown on my lawn everyday. You can see where I walked, where the neighbors dogs ran through my yard a month ago along with shapes that were invisible before (including what looks like some sort of snow gopher tunneling).
I often wonder why snow melts the way it does. Why does my lawn become uncovered way before my neighbors does? Right down to the line where our two lawns meet. It must have to do with the fact that he takes good care of his lawn and actually has grass whereas mine is mainly moss. I like the natural look.
I did some project in a geomorphology class on flooding induced by snowmelt (I believe they called these 'nival' floods) and it was pretty interesting how trees and brush and rocks and general ground cover as well as topography effected how snow melts. I wonder where that report is now.
After the amount of snow we have had this winter (and more in the forecast for tomorrow) I am excited about this melting just to get rid of it as well. Though sometimes I question my sanity for living in New England, the changing of the seasons always reminds me why I love it here so much.
