What snow??

So much for the predicted snow. Somehow 5 inches due to start around 8 p.m. turned into one or 2 flakes around 5:30 p.m. So I’m a bit bummed.

The Ski Roundtop night crew made snow all night long. People have asked me if the sound of the snow-making machines bothers me. The short answer is no. I usually can't hear the snow-making at all when I'm in the cabin. When I'm outside, if the snow-making is not at the nearest slope, the sound is the same as that of wind through the trees. When they start making snow on one of the further slopes, I'll often have to listen for a second or two to determine if the sound is snow-making or wind. If the snow-making is at the nearest slope, I can hear a mechanical whine within the wind sound, but it still isn't bothersome. It's the same tone all the time and soon becomes "white noise." Now, if I go down to the slopes, right at the machines, it's a lot louder. I can't get too close to the snow-making when I'm walking Dog as it hurts his ears.

I've had a new bird sighting for my office, window. Throughout the day yesterday I saw several ring-billed gulls flying inland, probably from the Susquehanna River. My company only moved to its current site the beginning of August, so this is the first year of this office’s bird list for me. It was the first time I’ve seen the gulls here—probably not the last either . Still, a new bird for any list is a welcome sight, in my opinion. Since I don’t have the cash to travel to new locations to see new bird species, I content myself with seeing familiar birds in new years or new counties—or new offices.