Tasting the weather

There's a whole lot of "little accumulation" on my deck as of 6:47 p.m. on this Sunday, March 24.

Sleet fell for most of the afternoon, but it started snowing later, not long before 5 p.m. This is what accumulated in just a couple of hours.

It's a pretty snow -- fluffy and wet and making lacy sculpture out of the everyday stuff of life outdoors.

This will likely be the last snow of the season for Richmond. We've been lucky so far this winter, although I wouldn't say that if I were 10 years old. The snowfalls we had this winter were light and manageable -- and mostly gone within hours. As this one is forecast to be.

Loving unusual winter weather is for the young. I had Sunday dinner with the family today, and my young great-niece Milagros pestered me mercilessly until I agreed to go outside with her so she could "play in the sleet." She bundled up and ran out into the backyard, dancing with joyful abandon. She delighted in sticking her tongue out as far as she could, trying to catch ice pellets so that she could see what they taste like.

I stayed on the porch, under cover.

Were I still her age, I'd have been right out there tasting the sleet with her.