Grrrr - Griping About Graupel.

Yesterday’s walk was wonderful - it put a smile on my face.

But today’s trek was just the pits - it put a frown on my face.

Originally, the sleety precip was slated for tonight, but then it kept getting moved back, first to mid-day, then around the 10:00 o’clock hour. I figured I had plenty of time to get my walk in before the ugly weather began.

Sadly, the moon and stars were not in alignment for me like yesterday.

Then, I just got down to the Park, and was still at the parking lot feeding a couple of squirrels, when a few drops fell from above. Though the sky was gray and ugly, I thought maybe one of the many seagulls gliding overhead passed over me. (Sure, I fretted over THAT image, but continued on.) I dropped a few small piles of peanuts along the way while I picked up the pace a little. I passed the bend on the first loop, when the wintry precip began in earnest. It drizzled for just a minute, and that soon turned to graupel, making little pinging noises on my nylon storm coat wherever they landed. That was followed by a band of snow that began swirling around and sticking onto the perimeter path and the grass.

I was at the Park on Christmas Day one year and the same thing happened to me. It was clear as a bell when I arrived, then a snow squall came out of nowhere, and in a matter of minutes, snow was dancing around on the perimeter path, laying a quick coating on the grass. That snow slickened up the path and I remember crossing the Park on the grass to avoid sliding or wiping out. That particular day, I had on walking shoes, not my lug-soled hiking boots. Coming home I had my head down like I was in a blizzard.

Thank goodness it was not that bad this time. I know I missed feeding some of my little buddies, so I wiggled my Ziploc bag so a few would follow me to the pavilion where I could leave some peanuts there. This guy beat me to the punch and his feet and tail were soaking wet.

Walking home, the snowflakes were twinkling down, some of them sticking to the leaves which looked pretty, but most of it was melting when it reached the ground.

Yesterday, I saw these pumpkins on a homeowner's property, not too far from Council Point Park. About a week ago, before these pumpkin faces began to cave in and wither, (no doubt helped by squirrels climbing in and nosing around), I happened to notice a tiny red flickering light on this pumpkin. Evidently, there was a battery-operated candle or light inside and the homeowners just left it there after Halloween was over. I didn’t see that flickering light yesterday, so hopefully a squirrel didn’t swallow it and his nose will light up like Rudolph’s!

So, I’ll try again tomorrow and maybe get a full walk in this time – grrrr!

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net