It has been a mild winter here this year. There has only been one signficant (>1 inch) snowfall in town so far. On only a few days has the snow level dropped below 2700 feet (estimated by observing the fresh snow on the mountains). Despite this atypical warmth, it has still felt like winter. Part of this is due to the shortness of the days, but I think that there is more to it. Today was the first day that I felt the coming spring.
The last few days have seen a lot of high winds, but this morning it was very still. There was a blanket of low clouds hugging the mountains at about 600ft. The air was heavy with moisture and the ground was very wet from recent rain. A little after eight, the sun pierced the layers of cloud to illuminate the dripping trees in golden mist filtered light.
For some reason, I associate mornings like this with wandering around on the beach at low tide. I seem to recall a number of such mornings from my younger years spent at the beach with my dad fishing, gathering seaweed for the garden, or looking for lost fishing lures when the tide was especially low. I remember days in Pullman when there was a similar feel in the air, but it was lacking the smell of the ocean and the beach at low tide.