Once a jolly swagman camped by a Billabong
Under the shade of a Coolabah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Baby It's Cold Outside

Falling about me as I write this is not the first snow storm of the season, but the first storm we’ve experienced in our new home. Last night I attended a book signing by Christopher Kimball (founder of Cooks Illustrated) in Highlands Ranch and by the time I left, my car and the streets were covered in thick snow. I crept along the freeway at 30 mph and did my best to keep from sliding off the road, as so many others already had. At one point I saw hazy flashing blue lights in the distance, then slowly crawled passed two cops surveying a car that had gone belly up. I cannot tell you how glad I am that we bought our Subaru Outback with AWD. It was a nervous ride with sometimes near white-out conditions, but I arrived safely home and happy to have faced my fears of icy roads without incident. The only drama was when I nearly blew through an intersection because I couldn’t stop on a downhill slope, but luckily no one was around.

This morning there was 6.5” of snow and by the time I got home from work it was 10”. An arctic front is headed our way, so once the snow stops we’ll have temps near 0 degF (-18 degC). Brrrr! I haven’t been that cold since…, well, since the last time I lived in Colorado. There’s a kind of restrained excitement in the office as people quietly discuss how much snow may be falling in the mountains, and how soon they’ll be able to hit the slopes. It’s interesting to overhear conversations about weekend adventures: skiing to backcountry huts for an overnight trip; having to do a self arrest after falling on a dangerous slope. Very different from the conversations in LA which mainly revolve around trips to Vegas, something I never quite understood. If only I hadn’t waited too long to get the cheap ski passes!

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Once at home I snuggled into comfy clothes and delighted in the winter wonderland that is our new yard. Ten inches of fresh powder made the world seem magical. I let the dogs out and we ran around like kids at Christmas. It was especially funny to watch the dogs since they were practically swimming through the chest high drifts. Molly pranced and buried her nose in the snow, Spencer did his “trot in place” dance, and I frolicked with glee. The snow here is so powdery and dry that it falls through your fingers like fine sand, and blows away with the slightest puff. When you compact it into a ball it feels like Styrofoam. We have lots of fun throwing snowballs for the dogs and watch them try to retrieve them!

Here are some photos I took over the last two days:
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3 Comments:

Blogger CK said...

Those are the cutest snowy puppy pictures ever!

8:44 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good to see you've started up the posts again. Glad to hear that you have finally landed a job. Does Steve eat warm yogurt with you at lunch? I like all the snow and wish I could come out and have some fun with you guys. I leave for NZ in less than 2 weeks so will be thinking of you in the snow while I have fun in the sun down there.

10:46 AM

 
Blogger Ferg said...

Jack: Have a great time in NZ! (pronounced en-zed, of course). Time to leave the blustery Los Angeles winter and head for warmer climes.

7:37 PM

 

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