We first saw our house without snow in February, 2011 on what was an unseasonably warm day. We completed our move on May 1st after two months of moving our accumulated stuff up from the Berkeley area in five one-way rental truck loads, the last one towing our car. The summer was quite comfortable but not hot and the winter was unseasonably comfortable also. Yesterday, January 17, 2012 was our first real snow storm. I drove two miles to a meeting of the OSU-Cascades science pub with some trepidation because it was snowing and the streets were icy. It turned out the lecture on the world water problems was very interesting and well worth the trip.
Today the snow accumulation was about six inches but it rained in the afternoon, which turned the snow to two inches of slush. Right now it is freezing so tomorrow morning will probably be very dangerous to drive unless you have studded tires. A lot of people installed their studded tires months ago but unless they headed up into the mountains they weren’t needed, at least here in town, until yesterday.
Retrieving our mail on a snowy day in Bend, Oregon
I made this picture from our front room of Debbie retrieving our mail.
Our life has been pleasant here in Bend. We had worried about the weather being too cold after decades of living in the balmy San Francisco Bay Area. But the dryness of living at 3600 feet, as opposed to the humid sea level cities, makes it easier to regulate one’s bodily temperature. We had worried a bit about living in such a remote little city of 80,000 people but with cable internet and HDTV it isn’t a problem. Also, there are enough events and people sympathetic to our interests that we are enjoying ourselves. It is strange, after living in the big city, to go downtown and randomly meet people on the street we know.
Later I pulled the garbage bucket through the snow for tomorrow’s pickup.
Even mundane things can have their interest and value.
