January 2020 -- and my first time to type the year "20," (above)! Twenty years ago we made the switch to the 21st Century, with the notorious y2k nonsense ... which seems like yesterday ... yet here we are, somehow, twenty years later. I'm not sure why, but this new decade feels almost as momentous to me as entering a new century. Maybe because I added so many blog posts in the 20-teens, and now I have to pay attention to what I type. Maybe. I dunno, 2020 doesn't come naturally to my brain or my lips. Time's a-slipping past, faster and faster. However, even in a new decade and notwithstanding climate change, snow will fall in January. At least here at 3200' in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
All of these are phone pics. Jimmy looked at the above pic and said, "what is that?" It's the passenger-side windows of the Prius, which I thought looked really strange, sort of like gigantic white goggles. We parked the Prius at the top of the driveway, as usual, since snow was forecast, for an easy get-a-way if needed.
Here's another "what is this?" picture. Or, is a rose bush supposed to look like this? Yes, it's the Americana rose bush on the back deck, and, no, I don't think it's supposed to look like that!
These days, weather events can get hyped to the point of "really?" A snow storm is still just snow, but it's nice to have the weather forecasters tell us when to expect it ... and maybe an approximation of how much. We got that, so we were prepared. As you see above, we hauled in around 8" of fluffy white stuff.
There's probably nothing new in these photos, but I walked around in the afternoon while it was still snowing, giddy with these wintry sights in black and white. Jimmy and I agreed that this snowfall was one of the prettiest we'd ever seen. All day big, wet flakes drifted earthward, easing into smaller pellets toward evening before quitting.
While walking in the yard,
I rescued a few small trees from their snowbound prisons.
... including this Dogwood transplant surrounded by its protective deer fencing.
In mid-afternoon we relaxed in the hot tub on the back deck (that section is covered), savoring the heat and steam, while all around us snowflakes floated past. That felt kind of magical.
We have two apple trees in our back yard, neither producing yet. Above is a branch on the Granny Smith tree -- look how the snow clings to a curl. When the snow is gone, we'll prune both trees, as well as our thornless blackberry and raspberry canes.
The Keystone block landscape wall makes such an interesting pattern with snow, like a checkerboard. I've been stuck indoors this week with the cold bug that's making its rounds and flattening people all over town, so I enjoyed tromping through the snow today, never mind the chill. Did we shovel? Nope. Did we care? Nope. Recovering from his shoulder surgery five weeks ago, Jimmy didn't need to be lifting heavy snow. With my cold? No, I didn't need to aggravate my cough. Heck, we're retired. We don't have to go anywhere. Bless their hearts, our dear across-the-street friends, Fran and Anson, shoveled the Prius out after clearing their own driveway!
You see my boot tracks as I made my way around to the back yard. Dogwoods look especially pleasing with snow-covered branches. Every branch.
With chilly temps through the weekend, this will be slow to melt.
That's okay with me. Can you spot Kwan Yin?
Kwan Yin is our lovely snow goddess -- she's well insulated with her snow blanket and headdress. Also on this stump is our rain gauge, which, we discovered doesn't work with snow! That's okay, we have the trusty red ruler, or a yardstick if it gets wild and crazy up in these foothills! Mind you, we still have two wks left in January.
