The First Eight Days of 2017
I am so taken by the white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky. As a child, a young adult, an….ol…..more mature adult, I looked to the skies of the Bay Area in California and hoped, wished, even prayed that it would snow….and snow it did….once, when I was in Middle School. It was such a rare event that even though it was not even close to sticking on the ground, the school let us out of our classrooms to experience the joy of the numerous flakes fluttering overhead. It was an event that I remember well.
photo by http://www.keacher.com/552/snow/
If you were lucky enough to live in the hills surrounding the lower elevations around the San Francisco Bay, once every couple of years snow would fall and accumulate….for 48 years, I yearned to live in those hills…or hills somewhere (maybe Colorado….maybe Twaine Harte, CA….and later in life…maybe Oregon?) Well, I guess we all know by now where my family and I ended up….LOL!!
This year, literally the first 8 days of 2017, we have had the most beautiful of winters. There has been snow on the ground to some degree every day since January 1st;
New Year’s Day….just a dusting.
….not exactly a normal winter pattern. The air is crisp, and cold, and biting. When I drive back to town from the valley, the hills are white and beautiful, and I realize that I live in those hills. I am one of the “hill dwellers”…. sometimes we are in the snow zone….sometimes we are in the clouds. I have a sense of disbelief that the place I hang my dogs’ leashes are in those hills. The weird thing is, when I see them from afar, I still look at them with a sense of longing to live there….and somehow, the car keeps moving forward, towards them….through the town….out of town….up the hills….into the snow. I hope I never take this for granted.
2nd day of January ’17
Still the 2nd day of January
The 3rd brought beautiful clear skies, and temps in the teen and twenties.
The snow decided to continue to stick around for awhile longer on the 4th, and the skies added more to the landscape.
Our goats frozen water buckets were a constant threat throughout the first 5 days of January, and beyond.
While the frigid air painted mosaics on the outer doors.
Lucky 7 brought more of the white, powdery, flakes…..
….and since the pond had frozen over during the days prior……
…..the snow, deceptively, accumulated on top of the frozen layers.
Currently, we have about 6 inches of snow accumulated over these first eight days of January. However, the weather has changed to freezing rain which has been wreaking havoc from at least Eugene all the way up north past Portland. The range is very wide encompassing from the coastal regions to the Cascades. It’s not often that you see chains required on the roadways in these parts….the signs have been up since last night. I love the snow…not so much the ice. In fact, my daughter and I had a show to attend in Portland last night….
…..her wonderful Christmas gift to me. We were so looking forward to it. The show was cancelled due to the weather. Traversing the icy surfaces was not going to be something this girl from south of here, was going to attempt. Tony’s job requires him to respond in these hazardous conditions as necessary….he’s had to go out twice so far. Tomorrow – Monday’s roads may be very treacherous as the rains come in and freeze again overnight. I do not drive over ice, covered in snow, covered in ice….not me!!
An icy windshield from a day in December 2016
Managing the animals on the ice should be a “fun” experience today. I’ll be sure to bring my camera.
Stay safe out there this winter, and thank you for visiting the frozen homestead.
Your friend from Oregon,
Tami
Build Me a Dream 