A Real Actual Snowstorm!

Us Minnesotan's know that we got off easily last year with one of the most mild winters on record. I like to refer to 2011 as the "non-existent" winter. Today winter was finally back in full force with a massive midwest snowstorm with a wet heavy snow that was accumulating swiftly. When I awoke this morning everything was coated in a thick "frosting" of sticky snow and it was so beautiful I just had to go out for a walk. I arrived about 8:30am to a healthy 4-5" already on the ground. What I hadn't really prepared for was how to keep my new camera dry as I made my way around. At first I had no choice but to place it in a big zip lock bag but then I couldn't get it out quick enough for a photo. With not many options, I decided to pull an extra glove over the lens portion and then just draped the plastic bag over the top as best I could It seemed to work OK but was a pain in the butt. It was quite a nice and quiet walk and you could hear the big snowflakes hitting the ground sometimes. There was also so much snow caked up in the trees that it would be falling all the time in big chunks and I had to keep aware and avoid getting hit. There was barely any birds out to see save for a few Chickadees and a Red-tailed Hawk that I bumped before I got a photo. The only thing that seemed to be out "enjoying" this weather was this Muskrat sitting on the fresh new ice on Shingle Creek.