snow

We were supposed to head over to Seattle this weekend (for a nice little getaway!), but our record snow on the passes had different plans for us. :-( Yes, I did cry a bit.

The passes have been dumping and dumping, and there have been lots of avalanches and closures. Cars backed up, cars covered in avalanches, etc. Lots of great fun for for all the poor people going back and forth between the west and east sides of the state.

So this weekend, all 3 passes were closed. I guess that's not happened for 11 years, and of course it happened when we were wanting to head over. The closures lasted for almost 2 days. I guess I can't complain, we could have been buried or be waiting in lines! Here's an article discussing it: Linky

Of course, this also translated to a great winter snow cover here this year. It's the best, consistant snow level and intermittant snowing that I've seen in maybe 12 years. I enjoyed it! Maybe because I spend most of my time inside, so I could look at it and be content. I hate when it's freezing outside, but there's no snow on the ground. If it's going to be winter and cold, we might as well have pretty, comforting snow as well. And it's better for the plants!!!

I think that this weekend, ironically, marks the change in the wind (literally), leading towards spring. Last night, we were at a friend's house who live up at the base of Burch Mt. (higher up the more exposed slopes above N. Wenatchee), and almost all their snow was gone. I was commenting to them that we still had snow. We figured it was the sun exposure, and the recent winds.

Today, though, I've been surprised to see that our snow is very patchy, for the first time since late November. The winds lately have been rattling our house and windows. One night, it was reminiscent of our big windstorm January of '07. A bit scary, that sound of a train going by outside our bedroom. Fortunately, the train wasn't as fast and close as that January. But it still gave me the chills.

These are the chinook winds, that bring a change of weather. I'm starting to think about spring for the first time in months. I've enjoyed the season.



The picture above, is outside of the Valley View Seventh-day Adventist Church this evening (Kboy was at Pathfinder Bible Bowl). It was very dark, and I took this panorama quickly, I'm surprised I got anything out of it. Open it up to see it better. It shows the last snow on the mountains before spring sets in.

cool afternoon

Water Lily, cuddling Jack Jack.

Razz!

The view today:




This is my favorite spot to photograph from the deck. I love the lone pine on the left, the color of the earth, how clouds gather behind the tree.






The two above pictures: one of our neighbours houses peeking over the hill. This house was built a couple years ago, the first time I saw it I was surprised.




Our other neighbour's house, the one that pearches over us. They're to the (our) left of the other neighbour.

This is my second favorite spot to photograph. I love how the ponderosas collect along the folds of the hill. This spot changes so much throughout the year.





All the pictures below are panoramas, stitched together from 2 or more pictures:

Made from two pictures. I love this spot, and how natural the cottonwoods look. There is recent evidence of two different neighbours building in the area. You can see a pole for some utility or other, and a trailer. We always dreamt of being able to buy all the land around us over time when it eventually goes on sale. But when the time comes, it's not been possible. We still have one section next to us that we could possibly buy some day if we're able to at the time. It's the most important spot I suppose, because the building is right next to ours and we share a driveway. But it still sucks to have our views ruined by development, and having people looking over us.




A two picture pan of the lone ponderosas.




A panorama of the wash, which I didn't line up well enough to crop succesfully. But I like the picture so much that I'm posting it anyway. You can see both houses in this picture.




A pan of part of the ridge above us. You can see the lone pines there towards the left.




Same view as above, just further out and wider. All three of these last pans look best viewed large for detail, just click on them!




A full panorama of the view from our back deck. I love it during the winter (I guess you can tell by the picture I chose for this blog's header), the bright blue against the white snow. (you can see our house roof in the upper right hand corner)