January's #1 Day

There's really nothing else I can talk about today except Monday which set a record here in Erie: with its 16.2" of snow (as shared with the world on weather.com). Monday the 21st in 2013 became the snowiest day in the month of January for ALL TIME in our fair city! It was wild--and beautiful--but could have been 100 times worse. As it was all schools were closed, many businesses, too, and most people spent a great deal of the day watching the presidential inauguration on TV. It could have been much, much worse.

I'm sure we've all heard of rain gauges, but a quick search in google found many types of snow gauges, too. Here's one so you get the idea:

Not to be outdone, here is an assortment of "gauges" that I found around the monastery, to give you a more personal feel for 16 inches of snow that comes along with strong winds:

A drift in the inner garden right up to the foyer door.

The library courtyard's drinking fountain.

A railing at the lower level back door.

The back patio gets the best drifts. They actually look like a wall along the house.

My own personal bird feeder gauge.