It's not true that people stop having fun because they grow old, they grow old because they stop having fun. I'm paraphrasing the quote, but never mind that. I guess Jimmy and I will never grow old, 'cause we're still finding fun things to do! Can I tell you: Lucky us! We bought ourselves a molded sled at Costco before Christmas, just because we could, I think. When was I last on a sled? When I was a kid, long, long ago. Jimmy, who grew up in the southern states, would no doubt say, never. Does that make a difference? Apparently not, because when the snow finally came, we went sledding!
One of our Pacific Dogwood trees.
We've truly had a dry/ish fall and winter, with no snow till a few days ago, when we were rewarded with three inches. Matt and Evie came up from their home near Sacramento the next day, and we tested the sled across the street in late afternoon. They still had enough snow; we didn't, ours had mostly melted. Evie squealed with delight. "Let's go again," she cried after each run. It was great sport, but we needed more snow ....
Yesterday the "storm door opened," as we like to say, and we had a nice six inch dumping. We awoke this morning to a brilliant snowscape, a hushed and incredibly beautiful world. From our dining room window, we watched Goldfinches try to land on the Dogwood tree branches, each covered in an inch+ of snow (header photo) before flying to the feeder. Not easy! We could hardly wait to go outside.
We know the drill, and we don't mind it one bit;
love being outdoors in the snow.
The Prius was parked at the top of the driveway, as usual when snow is forecast, and it was our job to clear it, including cleaning away the berm pile created by the snow plow. The snow looked very inviting .... Oops, I dropped my glove.
Earlier, I wandered around with my camera, enchanted by each snowy sight. Like the above. Oh my! How can a hummingbird get a drink with a six inch snowcap in the way? I vowed to sweep away the snow.
Watering can not needed anytime soon.
Evie would be incredulous seeing her playground literally snowed under!
After shoveling a path from the garage to the Prius and clearing snow away from her, I fetched the sled. Down we went, packing the snow with each run, making it shiny and fast. I squealed like Evie! Our driveway isn't long, and several times I ended up in the bushes with snow spilling atop me! We took a couple of (amusing) videos, but I can't remember how to post videos on the blog.
Looks like a kid! Wheeeee
We wore boots, as well as snow pants over our jeans, so we stayed dry. Snow pants also made it easier to simply roll over into the snow to get off the sled and get up. 😄
Well. Whew. We tired. Got thirsty. Cold hands (Jim), cold feet (me). Enough fun! Back in the house, and after lunch, I looked out the rear sliding glass door and saw the snow-covered hummingbird feeder. Oh heck. I pulled on my jacket and boots, brushed the snow off the feeder, and returned to my nice warm house. 15 minutes later I looked out and saw this little guy all puffed up. I watched his chest heave up/down, up/down. Oh heck again. The sugar water would be icy, diluted with water, and the temp was barely over freezing. Okay. I made a new batch, donned coat and boots and hailed my tiny friend. I asked him if he wanted to warm up inside my jacket (we were face to face, a foot apart), but he said no thanks and flew to a branch. I dumped the cold, refilled the feeder with warm, and went back indoors. He waited. The sugar water was too hot. He waited. When he judged it just right, he flew to the feeder and I swear, I heard a sigh. Some of you might think we should take the feeder down, but our hummers stay here all winter. So, I leave mine up, and fill it as needed. As in today, needed.
This entire week is a Palindrome week, where the dates are the same both frontwards and backwards. Just like our zip code. You're welcome! Oh what an awesome day! And the really good news is, another storm will arrive Wednesday with more snow! Life is terrific!
