DID SHE SAY YES?

This picture was taken from the top of the steps that lead down from the base of the Arch to the Mississippi. Carefully check the bottom horizontal layer of snow. Looks like a proposal to me. I hope it doesn't portend an icy relationship. Well, there is a saying: cold hands, warm heart.

Note that almost all the ice has disappeared from the river in a day or two. It's supposed to be a few degrees above freezing and rainy today so all of this will turn to slop. Can spring be far behind? (Hint: Yes, it can.)          

NOT QUITE FULLY FROZEN

Forest Part has a system of streams and lakes. In nice weather you  an rent a paddle boat and explore the branches. The waters are almost completely frozen over today, a rare event. Our year-round resident ducks have congregated by the one clear spot. Heaven knows what they find there.  

The temperature will rise a bit above freezing today and much higher over the coming days.The ice will soon be  gone.            

ICE IN THE MISSISSIPPI

The Mississippi was running clear until a few days ago. Now look at the difference. Of course, it's much colder not that much farther north but the system of locks and dams starts just upstream from here. The grade is so flat from here to the Gulf that there are no more to the south. Much of the ice may come from the Missouri River, which doesn't have locks anywhere close.

I've read that the Mississippi sometimes froze solid in the 19th Century. People and horses walked between Missouri and Illinois. Average winters are warmer now, of  course, but I think the locks and dams prevent the really cold northern stuff from reaching us.                   

WE DON'T GET A WHOLE LOT OF SNOW

So when we do, we have to make something of it. Forest Park, of course.        

COLD NIGHT

The view from my front porch late Monday evening. Much of the US got wapped Sunday night and Monday. We didn't come out too badly, all things considered.The light here is from a street light off to camera right and the slash is a tree branch. It was -6 F / -21 C when we got up Tuesday morning but the house is well sealed. This doesn't happen here often but it's not unknown.