Winter Wonderland 2009 #1

It's usually all I can do to manage one blog entry a day, but this rates an exception.

On Monday, December 7, the Oakhurst/North Fork/Coarsegold area enjoyed its first snowfall of the season.

The drive to work yesterday morning was just incredible, with snow down to 1,500 ft. Frrrreeeezzzzing temps kept the snow on the trees through the day on Tuesday.

Although I'd taken my camera with me yesterday morning, ECCO's driveway can be so treacherous that I didn't chance taking it into the office with me; thus I missed all the really good photo ops early on. These two photos were taken at 4:30 p.m., as I started to make my way home. The first one offers a hint of sunset, but doesn't come close to showing the glorious, brilliant orangey-pink it really was.

Of course there are those who see these photos and equate the snow on the trees with difficult driving conditions. Actually when I finally hit the road yesterday morning at around 9:15, the highways were just fine.

And, who knew! Co-worker Nancy clued me in to the new webcam installed at the top of Deadwood Mountain, the most potentially dangerous part of the road I drive from Coarsegold to Oakhurst. Now, during daylight hours, at least, I can take a look from home to see if there are (at that very moment, of course) any traffic snafus awaiting me.

What I'm Thankful For Today

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Today is the first day of winter for the Sierra Nevada foothills--according to Creator, if not according to the calendar, and I'm happy that I don't have to get out and drive in the promised rain and snow.

Up to this point, here in the wilds of Yosemite Lakes Park, it looks like we've had just a touch of rain. Nothing to write home about. But the weatherpeople promise that the best (worst?) is yet to come. There's been talk of snow down to 1,000 ft, which would mean us. But that seems to have changed now, and the snow level has risen to 2,500 ft at some time within the next 24 hours.

We can only wait and watch.

In the meantime, I can look forward to spending the day at home catching up on blog entries. I confess that over the past couple of years I've become a Winter Wimp, and the thought of driving in snow just doesn't appeal to me--although I'll never lose the love of having actual SEASONS. And I treasure the sight of snow-covered pines against the bright blue sky sure to follow a storm.

Hooray!!