The Day After the Snow

There is the quiet beauty that is found after a snowfall. And it starts on a clear morning after a storm when the sun rises slowly in the east.

Sunrise

As it comes up and graces the world with its sunny smile, the brilliance of the light gently kisses the tops of the snow covered trees.

Gentle kisses

The lights come on in this once sleepy world.

It lights up the snow covered world

Branches are laden with the weight of yesterday’s storm.

Branches laden with snow

Trees patiently await the melt off so that they can once again lift their branches and breathe.

Redwoods heavy with snow

The local roads are covered, never to be plowed.

One of our roads

Corners are shady, snow is deep, and the road quietly rests.

One scary bend in the road!

As the world comes back to life after the snow the snow beams and sparkles in all its glory.

Sparkly snow

As the cold seeps into my fingers and toes, I slowly walk back to my home greeted by the warmth that resides within its doors.

Home is where the hearth is!

The snow melts. The world returns to the quiet beauty that was there before the storm.

Thank you for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Thursday!

Read Full Post »

The Beauty of Snow

I love the snow! As it falls everything gets really quiet. There is something hypnotizing about the gently falling flakes! I could sit for hours watching it, which I did yesterday. I shared some photos yesterday, but wanted to share a bit more of this beauty with you today! I have a few shots in this post, and a video that you can watch too!

Let’s go and check it out!

On my back deck

The dog loves the snow! Here he is eating snow! I swear that he is smiling!

Astro

A break in the clouds as the sun sets

The sunset

I love the way the snow sparkles!

The sparkling snow

When I got up this morning it was absolutely glorious! Clear skies and blue and white everywhere! Here is the sun rising in the foothills.

The sun starts to rise

One more shot!

Sunrise today

I did take a video yesterday of the gently falling snow…If you would like to see how beautiful and peaceful this can be…

As I am unable to drive the roads yet, I am grabbing my camera to take some more photos to share! See you tomorrow and thank you for stopping by!

Read Full Post »

It’s Snowing!

Today started like any other day. I got up, had a cup of coffee, wrote my blog, and decided to head off to work early today due to an impending storm that was to finally give us some snow. Here is a photo of the incoming storm clouds.

Morning Sky

I got into work earlier than everyone else by an hour and a half. Immediately I started having computer issues. I could not get anything to load and I was getting error messages. I looked out the window wondering if we were ever going to see the snow. A light rain was falling across the canyon but I could see that there was snow at the higher elevations due to what looked like white-out conditions there.

After a couple of hours, I ran an errand for the company while my computer was being put back to rights. As I drove back up the hill the light rain turned to light snow, but it was nothing that would amount to much. About an hour later, while I was on the phone with a co-worker, I said that if it was going to come down the way that it was then it should at least stick. A few minutes later I noticed that the vineyards were starting to turn white. Looking out of my window I could see the snow sticking to the deck. Time to leave!

As I drove I took a video with my cell phone. If I can get the video to work right, I will post what part of my drive home looked like. After an hour and a half of it snowing, here are some shots of what it looks like outside right now, but add another two inches…

Looking up our driveway

Big flakes

Three inches in an hour and a half

Looking towards the sky

I also took a couple of videos so you can hear how quiet it is and so that you can watch the beautiful snow as it falls! That will come later!

I hope that you enjoyed my photos! Stay tuned for more snow photos!

Read Full Post »

Missing Winter

This has been a very strange winter season. We have not had the usual rain and snow which we would have had by this time of year. December looked promising, giving us twelve inches of rain. In January we had about an inch and a half of rain, and so far this month we have less than a half inch. The prediction for this week is warm and sunny. I am having rain and snow withdrawals and decided to devote today’s post to the winter white that I miss so much!

Our biggest snow, since we have lived here in the Sierra Foothills was on December 7th 2009. The National Weather Service was predicting 3-6″ of snow overnight. They were wrong to my delight! It began snowing the evening before. It was a gentle falling snow with medium size flakes. We actually ended up with 18″ when all was said and done. Here is a photo of what we saw when we opened the front door in the morning.

Looking out our front door

And it was not done! It was still coming down!

Of course we had to go play in it!

Playing in the snow

My husband got out the tractor mower to clear the driveway.

Plowing the driveway

I took a walk around the yard…

The greenhouse

Pristine

When the sun broke through the clouds we ventured out in our neighborhood. There are no snowplows where we live. They cannot get them up here due to the narrow windy roads. Here are a few shots around the hood…

The lake behind our house

Frosted pine needles

Dyer Lake

The road to our house

I am hoping we will still have rain, if not snow, before the spring and summer months arrive. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope that you have a great Monday!

Read Full Post »

Virga in the A.M.

I woke up late this morning, happy that I slept so long, but not happy as it cuts my time short for the stuff that I like to do in the morning, such as write this blog…I was grousing to my husband that I was short of time to devote today, and still needed to come up with a topic. We headed out the door with our cups of coffee, one of the morning routines, sat in my chair, and then turned to look out of the screened in patio room to see an incredible sight!

Virga, which you will see in the following photos, is a visible streak of rain coming down that evaporates before ever hitting the ground. I am sure you have seen this at some time no matter where you live, but this was the biggest drop of virga I have ever seen!

What I saw this morning

I told my husband that at least this was not spinning! Here is another shot a bit closer….

A bit closer

There was more that the one “cone” of virga. It was all around us but not as grand as that cone.

Wispy virga

The colors intensified with the rising sun.

As the sun rises the colors change

And one final shot of this amazing sight!

One last shot

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Read Full Post »

January of Years Past Revisited Again

I have been waiting for the rain to let up so that I can do my Wild Weekly Photo Challenge.  There is no sign of it stopping, so I decided to re-post this blog from the past…

I wanted to end the month of January with photos of memorable moments from years past. Winter this year has been non-existent not only in December, but this month as well. We have had a total of around 11″ of rain this season, and by now we should have over 20″. I miss the rain, and tonight we will be getting trace amounts. I am hoping that the remainder of the winter makes up for the lack of precipitation. Come back with me to visit January’s past:

A 2008 snow scene from my office window

A 2008 view of redwoods and vines

Black Oak Leaf takes the stage in 2009

Ice on a wood rail in 2009

Frost on our glass patio table in 2009

Roads after a typical storm 2010

The road back to my house 2010

Ice Crystals pop up out of the ground 2011

Corn snow in 2011

Water frozen in the bird bath 2011

We are hoping that we see similar scenes here in the coming February and March of this year! I am hopeful that I will be able to post photos of this year’s winter season for you with snow!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great Friday!

Read Full Post »

Broken Trees

At times here in the Sierra Foothills, during the winter months, we have some pretty heavy duty winds. The results of these high winds can bring trees down. Limbs just snap off the trees leaving the remains for us to clean up and clear. We value the wood when it is oak, but find ourselves sad when we see them damaged. The digger pines, contrary to the belief of some, do come down, and I wanted to share with you the aftermath of high winds here in the foothills.

These photos are after a storm where the wind speeds hit 80 m.p.h. I had been at work when the power went out around 3:00 in the afternoon. A co-worker and I watched as the rain was blowing sideways. With the power out, we all headed home. When I got here, my husband told me what the wind speeds were due to his trusty weather station, and then asked if I noticed the trees. Grabbing my camera I went out to walk around. The winds had died down so I would be safe.

This photo is from a digger pine in the front yard. The branch snapped and the branch came down just missing our neighbors well house.

One huge limb

The limb in the photo was about 40 feet long and had a circumference of 18 inches at the thickest part. Here is another view.

Another view

And one last view.

One more view

Here is a photo showing where the limb broke. This is up on the tree about 50 feet above the ground.

Where the limb snapped

Looking into the backyard, I see that another digger pine snapped. This one missed our back deck by about 6 inches. The tree is about 35 feet from our house. The branch took out part of an oak below it. It took out the fencing on the vegetable garden. The impact was so great that some of the branches impaled the ground. They were so deep we could not remove them and they are still there today.

A digger in the back

We have a grove of oak at one side of our yard, and taking a look in that direction you can see the debris of broken limbs laying on the ground.

Downed oak

It took us days to clean up. On the morning that we cleared the limb from our neighbors yard it was pouring rain, which then turned into a blizzard by the time we finished removing just this one.

Each year, while we look forward to winter and the snow, we hope that we do not have another wind event like this one!

Take care today! The week is almost over and there is the weekend to look forward to! Thanks for visiting and have a great Thursday!

Read Full Post »

A Light Dusting of Snow

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the snow! Give me a little, or give me a lot…I don’t care how much! We have had a tiny, tiny bit of it this season, but nothing that stuck to the ground. The weather forecast for today:

Today’s forecast

See the snowflakes in the forecast? Wahoo!

With snow in the forecast, and me getting excited about this possibility, I thought that today I would feature a light dusting of snow!

Snow dusts the backside of the house

Isn’t it pretty? I love the way the snow crunches under my feet!

An area of our backyard

Snow on the swing

A dusting on oak

We are not expecting much, and I am thinking that it will look something similar to the above photos. Although, one year they told us we would have 6″ and we ended up with 18″!

Have a great Wednesday! Thanks for the visit!

Read Full Post »

Last Sunday’s Storm

We had bad weather this last Sunday and I took some videos of this storm, and thought that I would share one of the videos with you. The winds had sustained winds in the 20 mile per hour range with gusts of about 40 mph. My husband kept saying to me on Sunday that for folks to understand this wind they should drive their car at 20 mph with their heads out of the window to feel the strength…It was the gusts that caused damage to our roof, which we have been told should be replaced. Please click on the link below and turn up the volume so that you can hear the wind coming before it arrives!

Listen to the wind!

Go have a great Wednesday! And, thank you for the visit today!

Read Full Post »

It’s Snowing!

My wish came true! Here are photos of our first snow of this season!

It starts!

It’s coming down a bit heavier

More!

Stop action shot

Not enough to make a snowman, but it sure is pretty to watch the big flakes gently fall! Enjoy the day!

Read Full Post »