Mid-April Snow Storm in Provincetown Actually Brought a Pleasant Tranquility

Looking beyond the clothesline to gardening pots at the edge of the snowy forest.

About 6:15 this morning I awoke to about an inch of snow on the ground and in the trees, giving a sort of surreal, black-and-white look to the patch of forest where my back yard ends. The only bits of color visible today, in this normally verdant scene of green grasses and treetops against a bright blue sky, were now just the row of big clay pots and the barely-yellowish birdbath at the back of my yard, which lies just along the edge of a lovely, tiny patch of conservation lands.
The sun was up, but invisible behind the thick layer of clouds that were slowly dropping huge, wet snowflakes over Provincetown and beyond. I watched for about 40 minutes as snowflakes the size of tiddlywinks, (remember those?) and even a few poker chips, drifted silently down to cover my back yard in about an inch of whiteness that felt a bit surreal, but somehow kind of comforting, even soothing.
I knew I wasn't going out in it, so I didn't resent this mid-April (and hopefully the last) snowfall in PTown till next winter. It actually made my day a little better somehow, and I'll take all of these little bits of serenity I can get these days.
Stay hopeful, stay safe, and, please, stay indoors. You can still enjoy the view.

Jewels Appear in Melting PTown Snow

When the sun is at just the right angle, it makes jewels appear in the
mountains of snow and ice slowly melting all around Provincetown.

Melting snow and ice turns into heaps of diamonds when the light is just right, in the early morning on one mound of snow, and late afternoon on another.
As the days slowly warm a little, and when the sun hits just the right angle, the light refracts through snow that's been turned to ice by varying temperatures and the rain we've had between snow storms, turning all these banks of snow and ice into potential piles of jewels for anyone paying attention at just the right moment. Keep an eye out for these crystals, appearing briefly, and gone in an instant.

Beach Forest Trails Snowed Under

It's a rare winter in Provincetown when there aren't any bicycle tracks on snowy
trails. With several feet of snow in Beech Forest, this winter has been that rare one.

This photo was taken on the bike trail, the branch that runs from Beech Forest to the Province Lands Visitor Center, early Sunday morning.
As we've had a little warmer weather this week, what with temperatures finally above freezing most days, and lows at least in the mid-twenties, the snow pack in the Cape Cod National Seashore, and the endless drifts and mounds found all around Provincetown, slowly begin to melt away. Don't hold your breath, though. The amount of snow we've had, and the tremendous banks and heaps of this unique winter, will likely take a very long time to disappear.

Provincetown Winter Photo Ops

Winter photo of a famous PTown summer landmark.

I shot this photo on Commercial Street the other night when there was a little lull between snow showers in the predawn hours. Tourists, by world renowned sculptor Chaim Gross, stands in front of the Provincetown Public Library, and is probably one of the most photographed spots in town. But that's in the summertime.
Few people ever see pictures of PTown in the winter, which makes for some very popular scenes, seen rarely, even in local photography shops. In fact, snowy Provincetown scenes are some of the best sellers simply for their rarity.
If you have a camera, get outdoors and look for a different slant on things, like a bicycle in the snow, or anything else not typically seen in the summer. Between shots, keep your camera inside your coat to help keep the battery from freezing and running down within just a few photos, and take some extra batteries with you, in an inside pocket. Have fun getting some unusual photos with all this snow on the ground, and elsewhere. Remember to look up, as well.
And don't forget to be careful out there.

Another Day, Another Blizzard in PTown

Commercial Street snow heaps grow by layers upon layers.

Considering the kind of storms we've been having, with snow several times each week, and an actual blizzard thrown in here and there, we seem to be doing alright.
Thankfully, yesterday's storm wasn't as  brutal as predicted, which is often the case here. And the power outage in Provincetown this time was of a fairly short duration, with most homes getting their electricity back on in fairly quick order, considering the stiff winds and brutal temperatures the repair crews faced. We thank them, truly, for their dedication to keeping us warm and safe in this formidable, often dangerous weather.
Folks still seem to have a sense of humor about this very challenging winter, too, and that helps. Most people I've talked to on the street have been fairly upbeat as they're shoveling their walks for the second time that day, or digging their cars out again, before the next storm makes all that snow too heavy to lift.
As the snow drifts and the piles left behind by the plows grow by a few inches with every new inch of snow that falls in Provincetown, streets are getting just a bit narrower day by day. Make sure you're extra cautious, whether you're walking or driving, especially near driveways and intersections where it's more difficult daily to see around these mounds.

Once again, a neighbor shovels the "path" from Pearl Street to his house.

A neighbor on Pearl Street was up very early the other morning, shoveling out the path to his house one more time, "…trying to stay ahead of the storm." The snow piles were already as tall as he was, with much more piled on since then, and the forecast for tomorrow is calling for yet another three to five inches.
I don't know how long our fairly cheery dispositions can last, but for now, at least, we are still hardy New Englanders, carrying on, and helping out our neighbors in the face of the next storm.

PTown Neighbors Help Each Other Out

Scott clears the UU minister's parking space.

Scott was up and around early this morning, and when he noticed the fresh snow on the ground, he grabbed his shovel and headed over to the Unitarian church on Commercial Street, to shovel out the minister's parking space and the sidewalks, for folks who'd be attending church services later in the morning.
That's just the swell kind of guy he is. He's been known to shovel walks for seniors, or anyone else who could use a little help, refusing payment, because "a lot of folks just can't do that sort of thing for themselves, and usually that kind of job only takes me about 10 or 15 minutes," he said.
This attitude has earned Scott some excellent Karma over the years, which came in handy this past spring when he moved to Provincetown, where he immediately found a job, and housing!

Scott's volunteer spirit makes him one of PTown's jewels.

Scott has always loved Provincetown, and decided to move here when his father made the move. There's nowhere else he'd rather be.
By the way, if you want to hire Scott to do some major shoveling for you, he's available. Call him on his cell phone, at 971 344-2461. And if you see him walking by with his shovel, tell him "thanks." And if you happen to need a little bit of help, don't be afraid to ask.
Ya gotta love a town like this.

PTown Snow Brought Dramatic Photo Ops

A crusty blanket of snow made for tough walking on the Breakwater in Provincetown's Far West End,
but gave us a great photo opportunity while this bit of nature's frozen art work refused to melt. 

While having snow two or three times a week along with bitter cold is definitely an ordeal in many ways, it turns out there were also a few rewards waiting for those who ventured out during these recent trying times. Photographers call it "golden hour"… that time early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun is near the horizon, giving a pinkish sort of golden glow to anything in its path.
I happened onto great luck one day in the Far West End when I visited the breakwater on a rare afternoon out of the house and into the bitter cold that afflicted so much of the east coast for a good bit of the month of February. For three weeks or so Provincetown had been having snow storms big and small at least two or three times a week, with both high and low temperatures in the teens and twenties most days. Each time it got warm or sunny enough for the snow to begin to thaw a bit, we plunged back into frigid days and nights, refreezing snow that had begun to soften.
On this particular day the temperature rose a few degrees and I was able to summon the spirit to wedge myself out the door when the winds of 30 miles per hour slowed just a bit.
I made it to the breakwater just in time to shoot this photo before the light changed, just a few minutes later.

Has Provincetown Turned That Cold, Snowy Corner Toward Spring?

Bike trails and footpaths abound in Provincetown, made even lovelier by
the snow, and even the extreme cold and snow can't keep us indoors for long.

With Provincetown's recent average daily high temperatures running around 10 to 15 degrees cooler than usual for about the last 100 years or so, folks are taking advantage of any day where the mercury rises above freezing. Even with snow still on the ground in the shady spots, people are watching for any slightly warmer days to get themselves outdoors to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds us here. And with city temperatures being even chillier than ours, PTown has seen a few visitors join us for a little recreation recently.
While the rest of the world is having record warm temperatures, the midwest and the eastern United States have had consistently cold weather this winter, with many areas averaging temperatures 20 degrees lower than normal. While on average in recent years the US has had a blizzard every winter, this year there were three. Tremendous amounts of snowfall coupled with extreme cold ran out the nation's supply of rock salt, and the manufacturers couldn't supply enough to keep up with the demand. The DPW did a remarkable job of keeping our roads navigable, and we really didn't have much trouble getting around town by car or on foot, despite the ice and snow that took its time melting in the frigid temperatures we endured. During our last storm there wasn't a single pound of rock salt or ice melter on the shelves in any hardware outlet, convenience store or neighborhood market in town, but none the less we still managed to traverse our frozen sidewalks and stairways, although a bit more slowly and carefully than usual.

Ice melter has been a precious commodity recently, doled out judiciously.

Of course, all of the banks were closed on Presidents Day, but people still had to get to the cash machines to make deposits and withdrawals. I looked on as the woman from the bank worked to shovel away all the snow she could, and then very carefully she sprinkled a tiny bit of the precious ice melter to break up the icy layer she couldn't chip away.
Despite all of our struggles, we've had a winter that turned out a bit milder than predicted, with some major storms shifting or breaking up a little as they rolled over us, dropping a bit less snow than we were constantly being threatened with. All in all, we've made our way through the winter pretty well once again, and now look forward to the month of March, when average daily temperatures typically rise about two degrees per week. But even though the average high over the years for the first week of March has been 41 degrees, and our highs this week range only from the low 20s to the mid 30s, it looks like we're done with the 14 degree overnight lows we've been having. We'll start to gain that degree or two each week, and soon the snow we've been slogging through will be gone from even the shady spots in the trails, and shirtsleeve weather in Provincetown will have returned once again.
By the way, today's predicted high is 28 degrees, well below the average high of 41, with a forecast of 25 for the low and perhaps a bit of snow, but the record temperatures for March 4th in Provincetown came in 1965, with its high of 62, and in 1968, with 13 degrees being the low temperature that day.