A Smattering of Snow

There was no snow at our elevation but just a couple of hundred feet up the mountain there was a light coating. It was definitely cold enough. We put on our coats and hats and took ourselves off to Trail House for coffee. While we wrapped our hands around the warm cups a group of three guys came in who seemed to have gotten lost in the wrong season for they were all wearing shorts and sandals. There are a surprising number of diehard types who insist on wearing shorts even in the dead of winter. I think they are same guys who back into a parking place instead of driving into it. Apparently they need to be prepared to make a quick getaway.

When we drove out of the Trail House parking lot we noticed that there was snow on the peaks all around us. Not a lot of it but enough to remind us that it was definitely cold. 

It had stopped raining and the sun was starting to come out, so we decided to take Spike up to the meadow. We weren't wearing the right kind of shoes so we went home, changed our shoes, debated on what kind of jackets to wear and went back to Spring Lake (a five minute drive). By the time we were getting out of the car I said I thought we might have missed our window of sunny skies as the clouds were beginning to close in. By the time we were up the first steep bit it was starting to rain, but we decided to walk fast and keep going. By the time we got to the meadow, we had a nice view of the snow on the mountain tops, but didn't tarry to take many pictures or give Spike his usual run around the meadow. We were already running ourselves by then.

I couldn't help thinking of all the British Blippers who routinely go for walks in the rain, but we're Californians. We definitely become wimps when it is raining, we are at the top of a (small) mountain and there is  snow on the peaks. We were back in the car in record time and enjoyed the view of the mountains from the heated seats in the car.

The main picture was taken from Spike's meadow in the rain. The collage in extras shows the he-men in shorts the, signs on Los Alamos Road warning of ice, the frog/newt pond in Spike's meadow and the houses being built in the hills above the ice warning signs.

It's still too cold to do much outside, the clouds have cleared away and the sun is shining. The thermometer says it is 42 F/5.5c. I made a pot of stew and John put out more suet for the birds, who must need it to fuel their tiny bodies against the cold, for it is very popular. The bigger birds can't hold onto the hanging suet holder but we enjoy watching them devising various strategies for getting at the suet in other ways. 

Paul, whose wife is in South Africa, is coming to share the stew with us this evening.