Quiet Sky and Quiet Mountains

What a difference a day makes.............

I wrote yesterday about angry skies and angry mountains.  I arrived at work at 5:30am this morning, and by 8am very heavy snow was falling, and blanketing the ground, the cars, the mountains, everything in sight. 

I took these pictures downtown mid-morning, in the same area as the ones I took yesterday.  But today there was a change in the air.  Things were..........beautiful.  Things were.......quiet. 

Snow has a tendency to muffle sound.  But it was more than that - it was more than just the buffering effect of the snow that made everything so quiet.  Everything FELT different from the violent and angry weather of recent days. 

The wind was quiet.  The sky was quiet.  In fact, the sky actually tried hard, though unsuccessfully, to allow the sun to shine.  The mountains were quiet.  The Gastineau Channel was quiet.  And for the first time in a few days I felt quiet as well..............

These pictures were taken from inside the Downtown Library this afternoon.  From a few stories up and from a different perspective of our downtown......

By mid-afternoon I was on the way home.  By that time temperatures had risen into the upper 30's and even though there was still very much snow both in the mountains and along the sides of the roads, the roads themselves were completely clear of snow and ice.

And by the time I got to Auke Bay and then further Out the Road there was no snow on the ground at all.  The winter storm that had blanketed the Valley, Juneau and Douglas this morning had decided to skip Auke Bay and us "further outers" completely.

Pictures taken in my yard.  A few days ago I walked outside in the early morning cold and darkness, only to find my car in a deep-freeze.  But today, while it is winter elswhere, at my house and in my yard there are multiple signs that spring is right around the corner.............