No, that's not Alaska! My sister took this photo this past weekend in California. I couldn't resist sharing the snow-covered palms.

The sun rose (past tense!) this morning at 7:53 and will set this evening at 8:06, for 12 hr 13 min of daylight. What, you say, more than 12 hours when the equinox isn’t until tomorrow? The combination of atmospheric refraction and the finite diameter of the sun always ensures that the day is a little longer than geometry would have it, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s spring!

Not in temperature. That’s been above zero most days and below zero most nights, and there’s been virtually no melting of the snow so far. It has, however, settled. A week ago we had close to 2 ½’ on the ground; today it’s just a little over 2’. The sun, when it’s out, is high enough that a fair amount of energy is absorbed within the snowpack, and the bonds between crystals are slowly collapsing. I don’t think we’re losing any mass yet, though, except by evaporation. We can get 40 below this late,  so I’m not complaining about temperatures in the teens.

Besides, look what my sister ran into day before yesterday in California!

It’s light long enough in the evening now I can get out and do things. Yesterday afternoon I attended a matinee performance of The Music Man put on by FLOT, and was actually able to drive home in daylight afterwards.

#WriteMotivation:

One thing that wasn’t on the list: I made transfers from my book cover, with the award sticker, and applied them to a tote bag and T-shirt. I also revamped my bookmarks.

1. Learn to use at least one legal method of getting images other than photos I’ve taken on my blog. DONE, though I’m still looking for an African brush fire for next week.

2. Continue to blog at least 5 days a week. (I’m doing 7 now, but I’ve signed up for a number of adult classes in March.)  On Track. I’ve posted every day so far this month, and I have 7 written and scheduled for the 12 days remaining. The other 5 are still in the idea stage, but I do have ideas. And I’ve made my OLLI classes so far, even the day I managed to high-center the car in a whiteout and had to get it pulled out by a tow truck.

3. Edit Chs 2 and 9 of my WIP to give more showing, less telling. (Ch 2 has been on Six Sentence Sunday; Ch 9 is the next section from Tod’s POV.)  I haven’t even looked at Chapter 9 yet.

4. Participate in at least one Platform-building challenge. I did both.