The snow keeps piling up for us this February, its weight on the trees and the earth growing. We will have a lot of water to absorb into the soil come spring! If the conditions stay near normal throughout the next few months vernal pools should be filled with plenty of successfully reproductive amphibian life. Additionally, this upcoming weekend may finally thaw us out a bit (if we define “thaw” as the temperature actually rising above freezing for a few hours) and deliver a system featuring…gasp…liquid precipitation that does not freeze on contact! It is also known as plain rain if you have forgotten by now, and it could be coming to us after some more snow, sleet and freezing rain.