Backyard fire, Thu, Mar 5, 2015

I went outside at about 6:45 p.m. to assemble another fire in our small fire cage.

At 7:00 p.m., the fire started.

At 9:35 p.m., I put the fire out. I was back inside at 9:39 p.m.

Barney was out with me for only a couple short intervals. Deb was out of town.

I roasted four marshmallows. Charcoally.

I drank one of our homebrewed blackberry ales.

I took out a small, wooden chair to sit at times.

I texted with Deb and with one of my nieces who lives hundreds of miles away.

At 6:45 p.m., the temp was around 16 to 18 degrees.

By 9:39 p.m., the temp was around 8 to 10 degrees.

It definitely felt noticeably colder after 9:00 p.m. because with all the texting and photo-taking, my exposed right hand stung more and at a faster rate.

The wind was calm. Clear sky with a big bright moon. It was either a full moon or darn close to it.

With the snow cover and the full moon, the landscape was bright. No need for lights. The moonlight threw shadows. The light on the snow was a faint, blueish color. I used binocs to view the awesome details of the moon. I suppose the crisp, clear, dry sky allowed the moon to appear extra bright.

Early in the evening, I could easily see Venus low in the west and Jupiter nearly overhead. I could barely see Mars through the leafless hardwood trees in the west. Mars was lower than Venus.

Some Mallards flew over, low. A small, spring-fed stream exists about a block away. It remains mostly open all winter, so ducks will congregate in the sliver of water, especially during cold winters.

Tomorrow, Fri, Mar 6 will be the last true wintry day of this season. We have six to eight inches of dense, firm, crunchy snow cover. Our morning temps may be below zero or at least in the single digits. Our high temps are forecast to reach into the 20s, which was warmer than today. But it will be windier tomorrow, which is why I choose to host the fire tonight.

The warm-up with daily temps above freezing begins on Saturday. We may be close to 50 degrees next Wednesday and Thursday. So the snow will gradually melt away.

It could be a while before we host another backyard fire. So tonight's fire was the last wintry one. And with the warming trend coming, that's why Friday is the last day of winter. It's unlikely that we will reach the single digits anymore this season.

Great winter.

#home #weather