Time travel

Long ago and far away, in a world where I had dial up internet, an old computer and a new camera, our family took a vacation. I know my sister is too busy having fun to tell you what she is up to, so here is a seven year old preview of what she may be doing.Now that I have a blog, I can share old family trips with you. I think my sister stopped by to see this guy.
Did she find time to dance with him too?
This reminds me of something I saw on my brother's blog. The boys must be related.

We watched parades. I am sure there will be parades where she is. I hope the dancing is good.

We showed great appreciation for anything that made noise.

We hugged the big "kitty" who was not as scary in person as he was on the screen. Of course this attraction is only in California. my sister went to the wrong state for him.

We celebrated a birthday and wore the birthday sticker all day.

We found an old friend and spent a day together with her.

We climbed rocks, with a long drop if you don't look. These are only in California too, but we had lots of fun here.

Random January thoughts

I doubt I posted this last summer, because I never really did post many of my pictures from the trip south last July, then again, it may look familiar to some of you. My brother blames it on age. My sister thinks kids suck your brains out. One way or another, they have wandered off. For my oldest nephew, this is what you do with chopsticks when your teeth have gaps. Somewhere I have pictures of the tongue hanging out in the gaps as well, just like his cousin.I stopped by the local haircut store today where they were having a sale. After I gave them my name and they gave me 25 minutes to cool my heels, I wandered over to a large chain bookstore next door. They had some sale items in the entryway between the inside and outside doors. It keeps the books cool, but not cold I think. These items were marked down, and they were part of a buy one, get one deal. I am not sure whose idea it was. The drums seem to be more popular. I would prefer to imagine sending both of these to the same family, one for the parent, one for the child.

Last month, when I was out for a walk, I found this sidewalk. Really, it is a sidewalk. I can see the tops of the cars off to the left. I was thankful not to be walking on the street.

If the snow is deep enough by the trail, she does not need to bend down to smell all the good stuff. We have been promised a couple more inches of the white stuff, but it has not condescended to visit us yet. That is fine, we still have plenty on the lawn and everywhere else.

Another shot from last summer, out the back window between the bike and the rack. He managed to put the mountain between the defroster lines as well. Not bad for twisting around in the back seat at 60MPH.

Local weather

Weather can vary from one week to another. It can also vary from one altitude to another. Sometimes a short trip up or down the mountain can mean the difference between fog and sun. For the last two weeks, it has been foggy at home and sunny by the ski lifts. We can see the fog from here, while we bask in the forties and sunshine.This was a complete reverse of the weather we had last year. Someone liked having sweater weather in January. The coaches sent the kids in to strip before the first run. He is not even wearing his face warmer, so you can see his smile. On our first day skiing in December they could only do one run between warm up visits to the lodge.The warm sunshine was a good thing for parents of racers, but the snow was icy for the kids on skis. We were using sunscreen for a change, and we could see the race course.One of my jobs this weekend was trading ski bibs for chocolate at the end of the last run. I do not mind working in the sun.This morning, we had another episode of ice fog at home. At least it looks pretty when it is foggy and 20 degrees.As long as it does not snow again, we have a street.My brother has an oak problem. I live in the pines.I walk by maples.In other news, they finally started work on my pool on December 5. This picture came from the city website. I am not sure how far they made it by the 18th, when it started snowing. I doubt they have done much since then. Now they need to remove the snow before they go back to digging dirt and pouring concrete and building a shower house. All the swimmers I know expressed concern about tearing out all the pools at once when we last saw each other in August, long before it started snowing. I hope they find time to finish some time soon.

More winter fun

I was informed shortly before the bus arrived that today is crazy hair day. He asked for a Mohawk of pony tails. Yesterday, we went for a run. We are getting ready for the big race on May 3. All of you are invited to come, same as last year. This year, I am attempting to run it with my boy. He wanted to run last year, but I did not want him to go off by himself. We will see how far I make it. Yesterday I ran a mile. One down, six to go.I may believe in the neighbors again soon. The four ranges in the picture are the pile that was shoveled off the front step, the pile that we shoveled off the street, the pile the neighbor across the street shoveled off his street and driveway, and his roof. I notice that the basketball hoop is visible again. As we have slightly warmer weather, the piles are slowly becoming less impressive. Last year, we had sunshine here in the valley and the mountain was socked in with fog every weekend. This year we have organized a trade. We have had freezing fog and clouds for the last week, with more predicted for the next week. Up on the mountain, they have been experiencing sunshine and temperatures in the forties. The skiers are concerned about the melting of their favorite white stuff.

We made trails across the back yard to accommodate the needs on a certain member of the family. It is important to be able to run to the fence to chase squirrels and birds. I could take my bike out if I wanted, since the door is clear. Maybe if the fog lifts, I will give it a try.

If you leave snow under pine trees, they decorate it. Of course, so long as the snow is there, I do not need to rake. I can see what I will be cleaning up in the spring.

The big pile is no longer taller than the mailboxes. We are getting to the point where we can see out now. This morning, while walking the dog, I pretended not to see the flakes of partly cloudy which were drifting around in the sky. So far, we have had no rain and no accumulation of white stuff. The freezing fog makes the road very slippery in the mornings, but it seems to evaporate by afternoon.

Just like the witch in the Wizard of Oz

One of these drivers decided to use the car. Job opportunities in a recession.

Look, there is the street where I live. Even the pile by the mailbox is shrinking, and we can see the driveway.

The path is growing wider.

I sent kids to school today!

This is the view out my office window when I am standing. This is what I can see when I am sitting at my desk. Nice insulators?

Fortunately the sun is peeking through today and temperatures have been in the forties yesterday and today. The plow came again yesterday morning around 4:00. I was planning on leaving for swim class at 5:00. I did my warm up round with the shovel first, for the third time in as many weeks. Then I drove to the community college, which was open yesterday, for my swim class. Today we can see our roads, everything is dripping and melting, and soon we will be ready for the next round of snow. I am thrilled that the kids are back in school after five extra days off. Now Mario is all mine.

Is there such a thing as enough snow?

Today the radio suggested that the usual snowfall total to date is 16 inches for the season. As of this morning we were over 70 inches. I am happy I can still navigate my driveway and my street. I am also happy that some stores are still open. They are the ones with the foresight to shovel out their flat roofs before others started collapsing. I ordered something for store pickup for my boy this morning, only to find the store closed due to snow removal from the roof. I stopped by an open grocery store to refill the pantry while we were out.

This afternoon, I stepped into my skis to travel more lightly on the snow. It seems this signal only offers pedestrian crossing privileges to mice and squirrels.My first stop was liquid water. I have always said I prefer my water wet, and this is the closest place to home to find it. They were closed yesterday, as was the school I usually frequent for swimming laps.I think they need a taller sign.My next stop was the county library to return a book.My son has had his eye on a particular game for the new game machine. This store's website said they had one this morning, but the store was closed. When I returned, long after the promised opening, they were still shut. This time there was a gas leak. I was not too concerned, as all the employees were out front smoking when I skied up. I figure they were just testing the air for me.
When they opened, shortly after I arrived, they had the game, but not the desired accessory to make play fun for a second player.I meandered down the strip mall to this joint in pursuit of the item. They were lacking the item as well. He said something about supply trucks having a difficult time getting to the store. I did locate another game that had a different steering wheel in it and did not cost too much more than the spare wheel. My boy is now racing up in front of the telly. He may let the rest of us play soon too.
Really, I like to sit out here and keep an eye on the yard. Occasionally, I turn around and check to see if you are still there too.
The latest news from the school district is that I am keeping my children home again tomorrow. Will Christmas Vacation ever end?

Speed Racer

The first racer you see is not my boy. I tell you when I can see him at the top of the hill. Something happened to the other guy and he never finished.

Ski racing again

My favorite ski racer. I can say that, because I only have one this year. The skis look the same this year, but they are new bigger ones. I climbed on my cross country skis to search for the race course. There was a view from here this time, unlike last time.

It looks like I found a race course.

I think I can see the same lake from here too.

I only think I have skied a long way back to the lodge to arrive at this point. I have a few more kilometers to go.

Happy New Year

I have been too busy living life to report on all of it. I have enough to do with my life without adding Twitter to the mix. I think Facebook is out for the moment as well. Somewhere I have a MySpace page that I have ignored for a long time. I removed Skype from my computer after it hijacked every phone number on every website I visited. I use the internet to find phone numbers, and I could not see them or get Skype to leave them alone. If I find a fix for that, I may reinstall the program. For the moment, I still check my email and answer my cell phone when I have service. I even reply to text messages on occasion.

I am not sure everyone needs to know about each shovelful of snow I move. Off the street. Over my head. Onto the pile. Thanks for asking. According to the local paper, at least 28 roofs have collapsed. Many of the local "Big Box" stores have closed temporarily for snow removal from the roof, including my favorite Walmart and Costco. No home roofs have fallen yet. We have left our snow alone, because it keeps dripping off the edge to lighten the load.

I have been spending lots of time sitting in the ski lodge, watching kids ski, and wandering around on the ski hill to see how they are doing.Snow load is an issue for more than just buildings. The gap between the snow on top of this one and the snow on the ground is the bottom of the windows. I could actually see through it.I am not sure what the load capacity is for these, but my vehicle suggests no more than 200 pounds be carried on the roof. The local estimate is about 20PSF of snow, and I am guessing the roof on this little one is more than 10 square feet. We will see what comes out of cold storage in the spring.We took a walk in the snow through the forest on New Year's Day. Two nice people with snowshoes made a decent trail to follow. It is probably full of snow again.My Shadow joined us on our walk. She is sitting on a sidewalk here.
I also walk from one lodge to the other and back for exercise. Today the lift line was long here, because one of the other lifts was not working. There usually is no line for this lift.My girl hard at work on her new job by the other lodge. The job comes with the spiffy jacket, which she will return at the end of the season.Inside out boy.Not really snowing, just a few flakes on the car.I drive by these guys on my way home from the ski hill, which is about their dinner time every day.