The good snow

We have good snow cover and this current storm will give us at least another six inches. I'm actually pretty relieved to have some early snow.

Why is that? Regular readers may remember all the fun I had with my water line from the well. In the end I went with plan B. The supply line is buried too shallow for our climate, but not it's also covered with two inch thick high density foam insulation panels. Having snow on top of unfrozen ground provides a lot of additional insulation.

Most people don't realize how good insulation snow is. Think about it though. What's insulation? Usually it's a material that traps air pockets. Snow has a lot of air trapped between the crystals.

There's a reason the people of the north lived in igloos. You would not think that being in a house of snow is all that warm. It's not T-shirt warm, but it's a huge improvement over outside conditions. When it's forty below with the wind blowing, being out of the wind in a 30 degree shelter is a big step up.

Some years ago a friend and myself went on a snowshoeing adventure. We decided to build an igloo to test it out. It was a fair amount of work, but it was comfortable. We did make one major mistake. The weather was pretty nasty out so we decided to cook breakfast in the igloo. Pro tip: don't fry bacon in an igloo. The camp stove put out enough heat to melt the roof causing water to drip into the hot grease. The cooking was quickly moved outside.

People tend to think of snow as a being a killer, but it can be put to good use.

-Sixbears