Thursday, January 16, 2020

No hike for me today

My front steps yesterday morning
It's kind of pretty, with the lights from various sources making elegant patterns on the snow surface covering the steps down into the parking lot. I was not going to try to drive in all that snow, but I was waiting for my friend John to come pick me up on the way to the coffee shop, in his 4-wheel-drive truck. We had somewhere between six and ten inches in our part of town. Some places got close to a foot, I heard. And it was still very cold, around –10°C (13°F). The cold snap that moved in a couple of days ago has only today broken and given us temperatures close to freezing.

Since it hadn't snowed any more and the roads were reportedly to be in good shape, I finally started my car and drove to the Senior Center, only to find that it is closed for the second day in a row. A small group of diehard hikers began to filter into the parking lot. We stood around trying to decide what we might do. Al and I both had a gym workout in our possible scenarios. I noticed that those who were left might come up with something they might want to do today, if the reluctant ones (that would be Al and me) decided to blow off hiking for the day.

As I drove away from the lot, I could see the half-dozen of them huddled together, probably coming up with something that I am glad I didn't attempt. I just called Chris, whose husband was one of the diehards, and she said they went to Lake Padden and walked the upper trails behind the lake. He was back before noon, and ate his lunch at home. So they didn't do anything terribly challenging, and I could probably have gone with them, but frankly, I was happy with my own little foray out into the snowy environment, and now I'm safe at home. It's starting to snow again. The forecast says to expect a "wintry mix" for awhile.

One of my favorite websites, Astronomy Picture of the Day, had this wonderful picture of something called nacreous clouds a few days ago. Here's what they look like:
Mother-of-pearl clouds
An excerpt from the website:
These polar stratospheric clouds, also known as nacreous and mother-of-pearl clouds, are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When the Sun is in the right position and, typically, hidden from direct view, these thin clouds can be seen significantly diffracting sunlight in a nearly coherent manner, with different colors being deflected by different amounts. 
Now that is beautiful, and much nicer to look at than old crusty snow that isn't any fun for old fogeys like me to drive around in. Tomorrow I'll head to my yoga class and hopefully make up for having missed my usual Thursday hike.
:-)

17 comments:

  1. I heard the PNW got some snow. Good moisture for spring flowers. Here, we're ever hopeful of a storm, but lately our snows have just given a few inches. Every little bit helps though.

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  2. We got next to no snow here south of Seattle. After doing my workout in the garage on my stationary bike for two days, we did our walk outside this afternoon, now that all of the bits of snow and ice are gone.
    We could see on the weather maps that you up north were getting the full brunt of the storm. I hope the warming trend reaches you soon.

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  3. Well you finally got some real snow! Those clouds are incredible!

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  4. The clouds are spectacular! I’d like to see them! Stay warm!

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  5. That's extreme weather for your territory. My son posted a photo of his picnic table with one foot of snow on it. He's just north of you in Maple Ridge B.C.

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  6. Those are some beautiful clouds! I bet your snow melts before ours:) The hanging snow cap on the house will come off by itself. It did trap Chance once when he was younger and Far Guy dug him out of the snowbank! We don't walk on the east or west sides of the house side at all in the winter so there is no danger for us...squirrels maybe:) The house was designed so that the snow would slide off and we would not have to shovel off our roof like everyone else has to. :)

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  7. Your front steps and the other photo are very pretty.

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  8. I saw that snowy front in your area on the news the other night...it may be pretty from the inside, looking out, but out driving in it...nope.

    Beautiful sky.

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  9. Glad you choose to wait for better weather though what you are dealing with sure is pretty. I am quite envious. And those clouds?? Wow.

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  10. Those clouds are amazing!
    We're expecting a blizzard again today.
    Stay warm and safe! :)

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  11. It's good to vary your routine and make it seem less mundane. There is snow on the volcanoes on the Big Island but no snow on Oahu where I live.

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  12. Ooh my goodness, yes not a good day to consider hiking in the mountains, but beautiful nonetheless.
    Enjoy from your window !
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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  13. Joanne, you are brave to even go out in the snow. Are you careful to wear boots that won't slip? Even going down your stairs looks dangerous.

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    1. DJan... not Joanne. Sorry! Mind is still elsewhere these days.

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  14. Seriously? 6-10 inches of snow? I would definitely stay home. That’s a lot of snow even by Chicago standards. And 13 degrees is cold by Chicago standards too. Oh my! But you went out anyway. You are such an intrepid person, DJan. I do admire you and wish I could be more like you, sigh.

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  15. By Florida standards, an inch would be enough to stay home!

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