Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My weekend

Saturday was foggy.
Sunday was sunny.My favorite skiers.I took a walk while the kids skied. I found the original of the "frosted" trees they sell in stores. This one was prettier, and the frost was backlit by the sun.
A little ice fall by the side of the road.
If I lived here, I would be home now. Clearing winter storm. Yesterday I could not see the little buildings up there.
Somebody left his gloves out there.
What a view when the weather is clear!
Some cars are brighter than others.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Gifts from the past

Cleaning out Mom's house over the summer, we found many interesting things. My brother insisted I take a certain travel iron home to use for ski wax. It was in the original box, and looked like it had never been used. There is no temperature selector, you just turn it on until it is hot enough and unplug it. When it is too cool, just plug it in again. It even came complete with the manufacturer's warranty with a list on the back of authorized repair shops. I think the warranty may have expired a while ago.I took it home, and tonight I used it for the first time to wax my kids skis. It heated up and melted the wax and spread it out. Tomorrow will tell how good a job I did with the "new" iron. I could tell it had been around for a while by the fabric insulation on the cord. Underwriter's Laboratories usually prefers plastic on the outside of cords these days, but it seems safe enough since there are no signs of wear.If you want help guessing how old it is, note this card that I found under the iron in the box. The signature indicates it was given before the third child was born to this family. She is older than I am, so that gives me a clue about the age of the iron. Here is a gift I know my brothers would appreciate, but the ones who would appreciate it the most do not have the requisite front lawn on which to install the guy with the bike.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tuesday was better

The car I selected for its ability to fit in the short side of the garage finally arrived. Notice that there is space to walk carefully behind it. The hatch does not open all the way with the garage door shut, but at least it is out of the snow.
Look, two cars! Number three left a hole in the snow when it went to school.
That bike rack back there will not be going on the new car, because it would crack the spoiler which was mandatory if I wanted to have crusie control and the stereo to accept my music playing device.
Admire the shiny wheels while you can, because at 30 miles on the odometer, they are being replaced with black multifit rims carrying snow tires.
It is called a Fit because it fits in the garage. I am sure that is what they were thinking when they came up with the name. When people have asked what it is, they have a hard time understanding that really is the name. It should get about 40 MPG according to someone I spoke to who has one.

Whose idea was Monday?

There are some days I could have just skipped, and Monday this week was definitely high on my list. The fresh snow was not too deep, and it added beauty to the world. Unfortunately, it added a lack of perspective to the world as well. It hid the curb at the edge of the road from the eyes of a young driver as she drifted too close. She realized her mistake and was starting to correct it when something went bang. Most places, if you edge over into the curb, there are no consequences other than looking silly. This particular spot is not most places. She managed to catch the rim on this offset piece of sidewalk over the drain. She made it to school and called to tell me that the tire was losing air, and ask what should she do about it. I told her to go to class, since it did not present an immediate problem. The car was parked, and I needed time to figure out what to do. I went by to look at it later in the morning and started shopping for a new tire and rim. It is too bad about the tire because it had only been on the car for six weeks. We spent our afternoon picking up the rim, the tire and having them mounted to each other and the car. I am glad it was as simple as that and that nobody was hurt. We had the alignment checked and discovered that it was badly out of alignment, but not because of the curb. That would explain the funny wear on the tires too.
The snow is pretty on the new house, even though it is not as picturesque as the old one. The dog is still just as cute, and she loves the snow.Ice fog frosts the trees in town if you have time to stop and admire them. Of course, this was a mandatory stop at the signal, but they are still there to look at and shoot.

More catchup

Later Saturday evening, my sister and my son and I went to see the new sporting goods store near her house. Her son was invited, but he thought he had better places to go. I am sure he will have a chance to visit another time.I refuse to name names, but it is really big, and even I recognized the name. I will share some of what we saw. I was amazed by the collection of dead animals and plants made to look live again on display. The airplane hanging from the ceiling was something else too. My sister purchased something that might make people think about killing animals, but really, the new bow and arrows she gave my son for Christmas are for target shooting, much of which happened the next morning as soon as it was light.The cousin in the pictures made targets out of small cardboard boxes. My sister complained that she did not want to eat the squirrels they were aiming at for breakfast, until I pointed out that her son was drawing a bead on a former box of candy. Yum, chocolate for breakfast. Light snowfall did not discourage the archers. My sister had funny things to say when I went out in my bare feet to take a few pictures. I did not want to get my socks wet, and my shoes were downstairs. It would take too long to get them, and I might miss something.After the shooting experience, it was time to make a snow friend. All the while, I was looking out at the ground and thinking thoughts of the drive home and how fun that might be. These two potential drivers had visions of sugar plums or new clothes or something dancing in their heads, not driving in the snow. It turned out to be less traumatic than I thought. The road crews had done a good job clearing the west slope of the Cascades, and the east slope was clear. We faced some fog and low clouds, but those do not have a significant impact on the drive unless the partly cloudy starts falling.Driving through the center of the state we were under clear skies, although the sun was too low in the sky to call it sunny. As we approached the Rockies, the snow started to fall once more and we slushed our way home for the last hundred miles or so. The sunset was pretty, even though I had to shoot it out the passenger window.