The day seemed...

... to end abruptly. It went from sunny afternoon, to cold and dark, in the blink of an eye.

M and I were in the classroom doing school this afternoon and outside the sun was shining and the air was warm enough to be comfortable.

As M worked the wind started to pick up and I watched low, fast moving, dark clouds streaming in from the north...  quickly covering the slow moving lighter clouds that had been in the sky.

For awhile the pasture was in sun, while at the same time the barn (in the same pasture) was shaded by the heavy dark clouds. It looked strange and the animals moved closer to the barn.

As the thick blanket of clouds blocked out the sun we slipped, almost immediately, from day into evening....

The wind was so fierce that it kicked up dust devils in the paddock, and it picked up and flung away to the south anything light enough for it to carry.

Within minutes of the first clouds pushing in from the north, the only sun left was just a thin line on the southern horizon.

Ten minutes later that same horizon was shrouded in a low lying cloud.

Then the snow started, fast and wild, the wind blowing it sideways... the tiny flakes hitting hard enough to sound like sand against the house.

Murphy and the donkeys hid in the barn...

...and I said a quick prayer that the old cottonwood on the north side of the house would be strong enough to stand up to the wind.

And then it was over... the only evidence of the storm's passing was the need to turn the lights on early because the house had gotten so dark... and a new light dusting of snow.