Brrr

It was 82 degrees on Monday and now tonight, here's what it looks like:

Brr!  We're getting our first freeze most likely tonight, and we had to turn the furnace on once we got home from work because our house was 62 degrees.  I think the cool weather is only temporary, however, as we'll be warming up again to our average highs in the upper 60s.  Still, it means Old Man Winter isn't too far away.

Spring, Summer, and Life in the Mountains

Okay, quick. What do you get when have a winter that drops twice as much snow in the mountains as usual, followed by a wet spring, and then sudden increases in temperature when it finally does turn nice? Well, around here where we live, you get a number of things.

First, you get a nice green lawn. Usually, once spring rolls around, we don't get a great deal of moisture, so the lawn will grow for a while, but usually by the end of May, it doesn't need to be mowed on a weekly basis (or even more frequently!). But with the unique combination I mentioned above, it means pulling out the mower to cut the grass that grew at least 4 inches in a week, and doing that week after week after week.

What else does it mean? Well, it means that you get a lot more water running down out of the mountains than usual. As the snow melts, it makes its way down to the lower levels of the valleys. The rivers around here are used to about an average amount of snow. When twice as much snow, combined with extra rain happens, you get, yes, floods.

One of the roads about 3/4 of a mile from our house has now been flooded for about a month. The water in places is about 6 inches over the roadway, and steadily running across the surface. It's been blocked off, so no traffic can head down that way, but that has also led to a bit of re-routing around our neighborhood. When you throw in some road construction on the major road as well, it turns into a regular traffic nightmare.

One good thing that you get from the extra snow and rain, however, is a filling of the reservoirs around here. Many of them had been at about 70% capacity the last few years. This year, they are actually having to let water run out of them now to make sure that they don't overflow when the water starts to really flow out of the mountains. So one good thing is a surplus of water.

Yes, for some of you reading this, you may be wondering why the snow hasn't all melted already. Just a couple of weeks ago, at one of the local fun spots, there was still about 100 inches of snow (in mid-May!!!). Elevation, cooler temperatures, and just an abundance of snow means that we will either have a late melting point this year, or it will all decide to melt in a short time. If it goes for the second of those two options, you might just find us floating on an ark around here!

April Showers Bring.....

If April showers bring May flowers....

What do April snow showers bring??

• cold
• depression
• wet socks and shoes
• birds in hiding
• slipping and sliding down the hill to my car after work
• a general, overall foul mood

Yes, today is April 7th, where the average high is 56 degrees. Today we were a balmy 37 degrees with rain and snow flurries. This was the kind of snowstorm that had huge, ginormous snowflakes. I was thankful I had a big golf umbrella today because it was really coming down. 

As I was leaving work, this is what I saw: a beautiful winter wonderland....in April.

Even the birds were taking shelter under a pine tree as the snow was too much for them.

I got home from work and could have shoveled the driveway, but decided that was just too much for me in spring. I sadly looked at all our tulip stems coming up, now covered in snow.

The worst part was the snow was heavy and slushy. I really could have been wearing boots today because there was so much wet slush. Both Scott and I came home with wet shoes and pants cuffs and drenched socks. Not fun.  I'd much rather go back to the 70+ degree days we had awhile back.  I guess those days were just teasers.

Tidbits, Odd Things, and a Bit of This and That

The Christmas tree is up. Our usual tradition is to put it up the day or two after Thanksgiving, but since we were out of town with some family commitments, we had to delay a bit this year. Right now, it has the lights, and the ornaments will start finding their way to the tree this weekend.

Carrie spotted a great deal for me over the past few weeks. I have a fairly large number of CDs in my collection that I rarely listen to anymore. She found a coupon to the local Hastings that gives you 5 extra dollars if you sell back 5 CDs. So far, we've had three such coupons, and I have made good use of them.

I have discovered a new favorite fruit. It's the asian pear, which has the taste of a pear, but the consistency more like an apple. We've signed up a few times for a local fruit and veggie pick-up, which has included these in our basket of delights, and I have truly taken a liking to these sweet delights!

Is it really December when you live in the mountains in the north, and yet it's still in the mid-40s outside?

We ordered some pants for me from L.L. Bean a couple of weeks ago. My size is such that it is fairly difficult to find my size in stock at stores. So we ordered a pair (getting a $10 gift card along with the order). I received them this week, and they fit great. Then, in the catalog they sent along with the pants, we found some more pants on sale for an even greater discount. Two more pairs should be arriving at our door soon!

I have maintained my running through the winter. It's very likely that I am in the best shape of my life right now. Though today's 8 mile run was one that I really had to push through.

As you can tell, my thoughts are a little random today. Maybe in the next day or two, I'll get back to you with one of my usual thought-provoking, laughter-invoking posts. Until then, may God be with you!

Getaway, Day 3

The third day of our little getaway we woke to pouring rain. It was ok, though, because it was such a beautiful, sunny day the day before. A rainy day meant it was perfect for relaxing all day. We each did quite a bit of reading which was nice. I even had time to catch up on my journaling.

We did break from our relaxing to have lunch at a European bakery. We don't have any pictures of the food, but it was fantastic. Scott and a smoked salmon, wild mushroom, and goat cheese omelete that was delicious. I had a turkey panini with fresh pesto that was great as well.

With full bellies, we went back to our hotel for some more relaxing, and I even took a nap. The rain had stopped by late afternoon, so we decided to walk the mile downhill from Sun Valley to the town of Ketchum. We had to stop by Tully's for some warm drinks and then we were able to get Scott checked in for his race.

Despite the uphill climb back to our hotel, we made it back quickly because it had started to rain again. Being a bit soggy, we spent some time sitting by the fireplace in the great piano room of our hotel. It was perfect and I didn't mind the fact that it was June 4th and I was warming myself by a fire. It was early to bed, since Scott's race was the next morning. I'll let him tell you all about that adventure.

Since it was raining most of the day, we didn't take any pictures, but I thought I would share some of our unique hotel with you. We choose our hotel based on the fact that Scott's race began and ended on the grounds of the resort and the prices were comparable to others nearby.

Not really knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised. Basically, Sun Valley Resort makes up most or all of the entire town of Sun Valley. It's a popular ski destination in the winter, and since it was built in 1936, the walls were covered with photos of famous people that had stayed there through the years.

All of the pools at the hotel were heated, so we could have gone swimming despite the cold temperatures. There was a bowling alley in the hotel along with numerous restaurants.

There was a swan pond out front.
Even the swans stayed in style in their "swan suite."

One of our favorite parts was the year round ice rink. We sat by the fireplace and watched possible future Olympians practice. They have outdoor skating shows all summer featuring Olympians. You can see the black covering over the ice helps it from melting in the sun.

The chocolates they delivered to our room every evening was also a nice surprise bonus. Even though we didn't choose the hotel based on the amenities, it was nice to be treated so well.

If April Showers Bring May Flowers....

What does May snow bring? I was sitting in my office this afternoon when I looked out the window to see big, fat snowflakes falling to the ground. I could hardly believe it! I had packed my umbrella in my bag because it had looked like rain, but little did I think I would use it for snow!

It snowed off and on all afternoon. When I got home from work, it was still snowing. At this point it wasn't sticking to the ground because it was "warm" out.

As nightfall began, however, I noticed the snow was collecting on the rooftops and grass!

Even the tulips started collecting snow. What a sad, sad sight. Red tulips and white snow. Eventually, winter will be over and we'll probably move right into summer heat.

Mud Rain: A Holy Week Object Lesson

As you can tell by our lack of posting, we've been busy. Last week was Holy Week filled with extra church services and times to remember the last week of the life of Jesus. On top of that, I came down with a killer cold and am just starting to feel better. We do have plenty of posts we need to update you on, but they will come one at a time.

In the last post I told you about our April Fool's Day snowstorm and how it was such a good thing to clean our cars. What was the big deal with dirty cars? Here's a picture before the dirty car mess started. The calm before the dirtiness.

My back windshield. This picture doesn't nearly do justice to the mess. Let's just say I could hardly see out of my back window it was so messy with gunk.

Our cars were covered in the stuff. Since my car is the same color as the mud, you can hardly see how dirty it was, but believe me, it was nasty stuff.

So why all the mess? We had two days of mud rain! Have you ever heard of mud rain (aka dirty rain) or experienced it before? I hadn't. Nothing like another new weather experience! Our mud rain was caused by extremely windy conditions in the desert west of us. This wind caused all of the dust to be stirred up and carried in the rain. Because the temperatures were cool and the humidity high, the dust stuck to the rain as it fell. It literally was white or tan colored rain falling from the sky! (I still have to wash my black umbrella from the mess!)

So two days of mud rain and then two days of white snow to wash it all away. God gave us a great object lesson during Holy Week. The mud rain was a reminder of our dirt, imperfections, and shortcomings. We fall so short of what God asks of us. Nothing we can do will ever allow us to measure up to God's perfection. Then the perfectly white snow came as a reminder of how He cleans and purifies us from all of our imperfections. And in case we weren't paying attention, we got a second snowstorm to remind us that it is He who makes us whiter than snow....blotting out all of our transgressions.

Despite my grumblings about the weather, it was a neat visual reminder of God's saving work.

It's No Joke

It's no joke. It looks more like Christmas around here than Easter. We awoke this morning to this sight out our window. Lovely, huh? Maybe for December, but not for April! Happy April Fool's Day to us. What a bad joke.

Keep in mind that our snow had been gone for weeks, our grass had begun to turn green, and our bulbs were starting to come up. That all took a backseat to the snow today. Instead, it was a regular winter wonderland outside. Here's my view walking to work. A whole hillside of snow.

The only good part to all of the snow was that it cleaned off all of the mud from our cars. That story will have to wait for another post.

The View of October 27

It's the end of October, which means that it's time for our scenery to start changing. When we woke up this morning, this is the view down our street toward the mountain.

Ah, what a beautiful bit of scenery, isn't it? All of you who keep up with our blog, who live in the south, are so jealous right now. Even though it won't stick around, today's addition to the scenery reminds us that the seasons change, as does everything in life.

Have a beautiful day!

The Changing of the Seasons

The seasons have definitely changed around here. Fall is in full swing, and we've even had a few glimpses of winter. GASP. It all happened last week when Scott was out of town. Sure enough, the day he goes out of town the temperature drops 40 degrees and I even saw rain turning to sleet (it was white) when I was walking to my office. We have had freezing temperatures overnight, and the garden is dead and black. We tried to pick everything before he left, and we currently have a ton of green tomatoes inside waiting to ripen.

While I love fall, it's depressing to have such cold temperatures this early on. I do not like winter, and the cold temperatures remind me winter is coming soon. Everyone is sick around here with the cold and flu. We are trying to stay healthy. I have a feeling it might be a long, cold winter.

But on the positive side, here's a neat illustration of the two seasons. You can see the snow at the higher elevation that was leftover from the storm last week. You can also see the reds of the changing leaves and the lower elevation. It's not the best picture because we were driving and didn't have time to stop, but I think you get the idea.

Keeping it Real

Does anyone else think this sight is strange? Seagulls and snow in the same picture?

This is the sight I saw leaving the office today. Snow falling and covering the ground, and seagulls standing in the midst of it. I'm not sure where the seagulls came from since we don't live near the sea, but I'm sure their natural habitat doesn't include snow.

Air Quality Update

A couple of weeks ago, I showed you some pictures of the air here where we live. As you may remember, the mountains were pretty obscured in those pictures. Thankfully, a storm blew through a few days after those pictures were taken. I waited for two days, when the skies cleared up, and took this picture. This time, the mountain isn't hiding (in the previous picture, it was very difficult to pick out).

Even though the storm blew the smog out, you can also see how quickly it starts to build up again. We've had some warmer temperatures the last few days, but have still been in "red air day" warnings (which emphasize less driving). Here's another view.

We anticipate another storm moving through this week, which will likely bring more snow (yeah!), cooler temperatures, and a brief clearing. If I get a chance to put up some clear pictures as a point of reference, I'll do it. In the meantime, take a few deep breaths of your nice clean air for me.

Note: Here is an article from the paper today explaining and showing why the bad air is such a problem. The graphic is really great and you can even build your own inversion at home.

Purple Mountain Majesty?

You've likely heard of the "Where's Waldo" books before. Today, I have a new game for you. Instead of looking for Waldo, look at this picture and see if you can find the mountain in it.
Give up? It's right in the middle of the picture. The reason you can't really see it is this mountain valley phenomenon called the inversion. When it gets cold outside, the coldest air gets trapped in the valleys, and then a warmer layer of air moves over the top of it. This traps all the pollutants from cars, cows, factories, and the like into the precious air that we breath.

Here's another view of the inversion, looking at some of the other mountains around us. Remember, most of the year, these pictures would be perfectly clear.

Our state is known for this. We even have "green", "yellow", and "red" days. Green means good air. Yellow, somewhat bad air and people are encouraged to limit driving. Red means you should stop driving, pull out your bicycle, bundle up, and then ride around, exerting yourself to breathe in all the bad air and make it go away. Oh, yes, stop your wood-burning stove, too, because that's going to make it even worse!

So basically, we await the next major storm to blow through, blowing out all the bad air (for a while), until the next layer of warm air settles over us and we get to do it all again.

So if you call us and hear us coughing up a storm, you have a little better understanding of why we so "love" our "purple mountain majesty" during the winter months.

(If you need more proof of this, here's what was on the front of one of our papers.)

White Stuff in the Air

No, that's not a cotton tree in our backyard. It's snow coming down. Need I say more?

Weather Woes

I just checked the forecast and am not happy to hear that snow is coming our way. That's right- SNOW! In early October? On the valley floor? For nearly all of the state? You've got to be kidding me. Temperatures 25 degrees below normal? I sure hope the severe weather alert is not true.

The weather has been beautiful lately and the leaves are changing down here at the valley level. It's so gorgeous and I love this time of year. Snow on the leaves now could mean fall ending real soon. How depressing.

And Scott is going to be gone this weekend. HE'S the one who loves snow and gets excited about it, NOT ME. I am not ready to see snow yet and I hope I don't for awhile. In the meantime, I'll be getting my flannel clothes out, my wool socks, and my hot drinks. Sigh.