Northstar at Tahoe...

Yesterday we made the trek to Tahoe with plans to ski and snowboard this week. It will be interesting to see how this goes since the snow looked pretty sparse on the drive up.

But Northstar claims to have 16 of 20 lifts open so they must have a lot of man made snow.

If the skiing is lousy at least we’ve rented a great cabin and have plenty of good food. Our traditional stop at Ikeeda’s in Auburn always insures we’ll have tasty treats, especially things like razzleberry cobbler (my personal favorite).

Last night the guys (Brent, Webb, & Korey) built a Jenga tower 33 stories high which we assume is the highest to come out of our Jenga game yet. If we can just raise it to 36 stories they can all quit their jobs and become professional Jenga players!

We’ll head up to the slopes after breakfast but if the snow conditions are too bad we can just come back to the cabin and practice our Jenga skills!

A Deluge of Rain...

“If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 am. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.” - William Lyon Phelps

Sometimes meteorologists have to get creative. Day after day of "rain in the forecast" starts to feel beyond redundant so they stretch the phraseology every way imaginable just to mix things up a bit:

- A plethora of showers

- Forecast: more rain and more rain

- Another drenching storm on the way

- A wet weather pattern

- Bay Area soaked to the skin

- Heavy precipitation

- Intensity of widespread rain

- Silicon Valley showers remain undaunted

The rain has definitely overstayed it’s welcome. The first day of spring (March 20) officially came and went. Alas, no sign of spring. I’m so annoyed by this wet weather that I’m actually wondering if I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). More likely I’m just sad (lower case) that so many trail runs in the past two weeks have been aborted or run through mud in a downpour.

I still remember our naive weather assumptions when our California friends learned we’d be moving from La Jolla to Seattle and asked how we liked the rain. Brent and I would both insist that rain didn’t really bother us. No, we were quite impervious to silly distractions like the weather. That is, until we left gorgeous-most-of-the-year La Jolla and learned first hand about wet, gray and dreary.

So we hightailed out of the Pacific Northwest for the first California opportunity but with the torrential showers of late I’m afraid the Bay Area is just as waterlogged as Seattle. If I’m stuck living in a rainy climate I should consider joining Paige in London. Perhaps British rain is more tolerable!

“Gosh, it’s raining cats and dogs," said Fred looking out of the kitchen window. “I know,” said his mother coming inside. “I’ve just stepped in a poodle!”

Heart Wrenching...

"There are moments when you have to just walk away and cry." -Lou Angeli

The devastation in Japan from the earthquake and tsunami is heart wrenching! Completely overwhelming! As if those disasters weren't enough they're now experiencing aftershocks, fires, and terrible meltdowns at nuclear power plants. The aftermath is horrendous!

The power of nature is daunting. It's swift and the force and sheer magnitude is practically unfathomable. It's humbling to view video footage of the destruction and realize how vulnerable and precarious life can be.

When tragedy unfolds it's impossible to make sense of suffering. I know during crisis people question why a loving God would allow such sad and terrible things. Personally, it affirms my faith that while I don't understand all the purposes, I trust in scriptural promises that "adversity and afflictions shall be but a small moment." (D&C 121:7) I believe there is so much that I can't understand. But what I can do is trust in His plan.

Since I couldn't bring myself to download a tragic photo I decided my blog picture would be Katsushika Hokusai's 1830 woodblock print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa." It's one of the most well known works of Japanese art and I've always liked the copy in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Looking at the print it's sobering to recognize that the Japanese people have always had to deal with havoc wreaking tsunami weather.

"...and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds." -D&C 88:90

The 50/50 Teaser....

All week long the Bay Area newspapers have predicted a 50/50 chance of snow this weekend. When the meteorologists give it 50/50 odds my 'cup half full' outlook naturally leads me to the conclusion that it will snow.

A cold front from Alaska is definitely coming our way. Whether we get the actual snow here on the valley floor depends on whether 'the perfect storm' ingredients all come together.

Or, in weather lingo, the cold front would "need to pick up moisture as it loops over the ocean off the Pacific Northwest before arriving."

It would be the first snow here in 35 years. Apparently it was 1976 when the last snowflakes fell in the Silicon Valley.

As a general rule, I'm not a big fan of cold weather, therefore, I'm not inclined to pray for snow. Ordinarily. However, when a climate that never precipitates anything more dramatic than rainstorms suddenly includes snow in the forecast, it seems extraordinary! And, anything extraordinary calls for celebration and I'm always inclined to celebrate!

So, even though what I am desperately praying for is summer and warm weather, after all the hullabaloo the media has generated with these claims of snow, I do hope we get our mega snowstorm (albeit I just want it to snow today and be gone tomorrow, no need to drag it out!).

If it doesn't snow this weekend, there will be lots of disappointed little kids and perhaps even some disappointed big kids (like me) who do like to see history in the making. Even if it means tolerating a nippy temperature. So, bring on the snow and promptly thereafter let's usher in an early spring season!

Ice & Snow! Take it Slow!

Paige and I were so efficient on Friday. We loaded some of her school stuff into a storage locker, filled Bella with the rest and hit the road.

We smugly thought we had made it out of town before a big storm hits Utah today. And driving was a breeze but only until Wendover.

After that it was risky all the way. "All the way" unfortunately doesn't mean we made it home to Los Gatos. Not even close.

The snow and low visibility kept most cars (us included) creeping along at 20 miles an hour. Trust me, it takes a long time to get very far at that speed.

Safety trumped desire and as much as we wanted to keep cruising onward we hunkered down in a Comfort Suites for the night. Which leaves the rest of the journey ahead of us today. After a night of steady snowfall. Yikes!

We're heading out asap and hoping we can get to and over Donner Pass before any road closures. Our mantra for the day is definitely a "Slow and Steady" mindset!

If You Can Let Go...

The Autumn Sonnets

If I can let you go as trees let go

Their leaves, so casually, one by one,

If I can come to know what they do know

That fall is the release, the consummation,

Then fear of time and the uncertain fruit

Would not distemper the great lucid skies

This strangest autumn, mellow and acute.

If I can take the dark with open eyes

And call it seasonal, not harsh or strange

(For love itself may need a time of sleep),

And treelike, stand unmoved before the change,

Lose what I lose to keep what I can keep,

The strong root still alive under the snow,

Love will endure - - if I can let you go. -May Sarton

This poem can apply to many things: relationships, children, situations, etc. It is almost always in 'letting go' that the deeper and more authentic love is allowed to show it's true face.

"The Autumn Sonnets" is just another cool poem in my collection of "favorites." One reason I like it is because of the variety of ways it could be meaningful to someone. The need to 'let go' is pretty universal albeit in different forms. I also think May Sarton was a talented poet, kind of a forerunner to Mary Oliver, and she probably never got the recognition for her writing that she deserved.

HOT Fun in the Summertime!

"Heat, Ma'am! It was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones." -Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

Tuesday & Wednesday of this week were unbearably hot! Not the temperate NorCal weather we're usually spoiled with!

Fortunately Paige and I were in San Francisco on Tuesday so we didn't feel the brunt of that hot day. But we had to endure the Arizona-like temperatures on Wednesday. Fortuitously for Brent he was traveling midweek so he missed the heat wave entirely!

As the English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge would say: "Summer has set in with its usual severity." But Coleridge suffered from depression, maybe even bipolar, so I'm guessing the summer heat bothered him more than the average guy.

I felt lethargic until I realized it was the heat zapping the energy right out of me! Somehow just understanding the cause for being tired made me feel better. At least I wasn't coming down with chronic fatigue syndrome.

We've had a pretty mild summer overall so it wasn't too terrible to suffer through a few scorcher days in August. It's just the price you pay to live in the gorgeous Bay Area!

I'll hate to see summer wind down in a few weeks; summer is definitely my favorite season of the year!

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. -Russell Baker

Barometer Trivia...

"The mother is the barometer of the family." -from the cjane blog

Andie and I read a fun blog called cjanerun. CJane's parents, the Clarks, have been called to serve a mission. Her dad will preside over the St. Louis Missiouri mission.

The apostle, Robert D. Hales, set apart the Clarks and most of their kids and grandkids were able to attend. Elder Hales reminded the group of siblings that their mother is the barometer of the family. If the family is well, their mother will be happy. Conversely, if someone in the family isn't well, it's a tough go for the mother. It's just the nature of mothers!

So, while Brother and Sister Clark spend 3 years away from family, Elder Hales finished his comments by advising: "If you want to help your mother, be good."

As a mother, I heartily agree with Elder Hales wise counsel! Or, I've heard it said this way: "a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child."

When it comes to real barometers (as opposed to mothers), it was my Dad who loved to look at these weather instruments. His Navy years on an aircraft carrier left him with respect and interest in weather and predicting likelihood of rain, etc. He taught me the "Red sky at night, sailors delight, Red sky at morning, sailors take warning" rhyme and was always abreast of the temperature (inside and out) and the upcoming weather forecast.

I don't completely understand how to read a barometer aside from knowing that low pressure indicates increased storm activities. So if a barometer is falling then precipitation is likely while a rising barometer indicates fair weather ahead!

Like the difficulty in reading the barometer, most children probably don't completely understand their mothers either. Suffice it to say that if kids are rising (progressing/thriving) all is well with Mom. But if kids are declining, Moms will be wary of storms ahead!

The satirist, Ambrose Bierce, never called mothers the barometer of the family but he did sarcastically define a barometer as "an ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having."

Ode to June!

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June." -L.M. Montgomery

Forget the Camelot song: "It's May, it's May, the lusty month of May!" Personally, I've always loved the month of June! The month conjures up all kinds of good memories!

First, it's the month of my birth day which was especially exciting as a child. And for the past 29 years, June is the birthday month of my spouse as well!

June is always filled with weddings (ours included) and graduations; both exciting events! Of course all those graduations signal the end of the school year; another good perk in the month.

SUMMER officially arrives on June 21st! And, summer is my favorite season!

Furthermore, June is watermelon season and watermelon happens to be my favorite fruit. The best watermelons ripen during the month of June!

It's June: It's All Good!

"Spring being a tough act to follow,

God created June." -Al Bernstein

Springing Forward, Falling Back!

That's quite a vintage print: "Get Your Hoe Ready!" But, now that I've got your attention: A little trivia about Daylight Saving Time (which started up yesterday)!

I'm don't get riled up easily so I'm not well versed in the controversy over Daylight Savings. But, I know people who think the whole practice is a bad idea!

Personally, I'm more fascinated about how in the world daylight savings took hold in the first place. Think about that. The initial proposals must have seemed pretty out there!

Apparently, George Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist (yes, that would be a guy who studies insects) came up with the brainchild in 1895. But even before Hudson's presented his plan, Benjamin Franklin, in 1784, wrote an essay about the idea of saving daylight.

Adding that extra hour of daylight benefits retailers and sports activities and some studies show a reduction in traffic fatalities.

Opponents say daylight savings causes more problems than it's worth. Farming issues are one negative cited. And disruption to our natural circadian clocks. According to poultry producer, Marty Notenbomer, it sounds like farm animals have the same trouble we do. Notenbomer said: "The chickens don't adapt to the changing clock until several weeks later."

So, if the human trickery has left you feeling cranky or in need of a nap, you can take heart that it's brutal for the chickens too! And, I never complain when we get to add that extra hour in the fall! So, "light"en up (pun intended)! Trade-offs, trade-offs!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde

I've sunk to a new low in blogging: weather chatter!

But, just for the record, I am a really big baby! I live in California and I whine about the cold! Really?

I can picture Paige, embracing that 10 degree Provo winter, rolling her eyes and shaking her head while reading this! Yes, Paige, your Mom is a wimp! When I give you that staying-warm-is-all-about-wearing-the-right-stuff lecture; I'm referring to you and your attire, not insinuating that I want to hunker down and dress to survive in that cold climate! Go Paige!

Sometimes I marvel that I grew up in Utah! Climate wise, that is! Grew up and actually thrived in Salt Lake City winters! It's the same how-did-I ever do-that-marvel as my wonderment at how I managed to teach early morning Seminary in Boston with 2 small children! Seriously, how?

Winter

The birds are gone, the world is white,

the winds are wild, they chill and bite;

the ground is thick with slush and sleet,

and I can barely feel my feet! - from The Four Seasons, by Jack Prelutsky

My feet get cold just reading that stanza!

California Girl is Walking ( & Running) in a Winter Wonderland!

"O wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" -Percy Bysshe Shelley

It's Paige's first winter in her Study Abroad Utah experience! She's been a little reluctant about enduring the cold weather but I think she made some progress yesterday. Provo had a big snowstorm and Paige bundled up and went running anyway. Her text message reported only one fall and it sounded like she might embrace the season after all!

Of course, in two weeks Paige will be back in California for the semester break. I just hope the snowfall yesterday was pretty enough to entice her back to Utah in January! Plus, her snowboard gear and ski pass will be ready and waiting!

I've never been a big fan of the cold weather either so I do feel for Paige! Blizzards can definitely put a damper on plans now and again! And we both like to plan! Also, Paige has NEVER driven in hazardous conditions so we've got to enlist a native Utah driver to get her out in a parking lot and teach her how to maneuver Bella on treacherous roads! (Hmm...I'm not sure Paige ever learned to parallel park - speaking of driving skills!)

One highlight I'm sure Paige will like about a cold winter: Unlimited Hot Chocolate! (but I'll save the story behind that comment for another blog entry!)

"Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer." -Plutarch, Moralia

"And I Wonder, Still I Wonder, Who'll Stop the Rain?" (credence clearwater revival)

"Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Come Again Another Day!

Little Johnny wants to play,

Rain, Rain, Go to Spain,

Never Show your Face Again!"

I like the IDEA of FALL more than I actually like the autumn season. The thought of galoshes, umbrellas and leaves changing colors creates a charming visual! In my mind!

But in reality, the rainy season, when I have to wait for a respite in the storm so I can get out on a run frustrates me. Slows me down.

This 1st big storm this year came in with gusto! It's been a relentless downpour! Yesterday I felt like curling up with a good book but since I was taking dinner to the Hollands, I needed cooking supplies so I had to venture out despite my preference to hunker down! Duty Calls!

"Under my head till morning; but the rain

Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh

Upon the glass and listen for reply..." -Edna St. Vincent Millay