The front of my house, December 28th. The flag is frozen onto the roof.I am standing at the back of my property, down where the bees are in the warmer months, looking up the hill toward my house. You can see Pedro skiing.
It was cold on Christmas, but not quite cold enough for snow. We had seen flakes here and there for a couple days, but mostly rain. Christmas night, however, the temperature dropped for real.
The day after Christmas it snowed about 10 inches here at my place in Rainier, Oregon. The next day it snowed another 5 inches. We discovered another two inches the next couple of mornings, until finally the moisture in the atmosphere was spent. Then it was just cold.
The first snow day the pond was not frozen, but it iced up the next day.It was so pretty when the sun tried to break through clouds.There’s the iced over pond.This darling little bird finds exposed ground under a tree.Snowy alder tree catkins and cones.That’s the slope we sledded on. It’s not that steep, but once we packed down a trail, the sledding went pretty well.
Forgive the dark photos. I struggle with this and I know it’s because I don’t know anything about my camera. This Nikon has consistently underexposed since I’ve owned it, and that’s magnified in snow. Seriously my originals are so dark it looks like I’m shooting at night. I’M LAZY, OK? I have occasionally done web searches to try and figure out what’s going on, and the only answer is “You should stop using auto and switch to manual.” *sigh* I took a one-day photo class once, and learned a bunch of stuff about how to use it in manual mode, but it’s a lot and I eventually forgot it all. When I see something happening, it’s so much work to stop and try to remember all the settings. In the meantime, the bird has flown away, or the cloud moved again, or whatever.
So all these snow photos have been massively edited to make them visible. It’s obvious to me in some of them.
Pedro used to cross-country ski a lot, when he lived in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He rarely gets a chance to do it now, because where we live it rarely snows enough to cover the ground.He let me try the skis too. The last time I cross-country skied was when I was a teenager, so I’m bad at it.He looks so happy. 🙂
Enjoy these! We had fun playing in the snow for a few days.
At the back of my property, where the sun has a chance to peer over the tops of all the trees, I have a baby orchard. There are four small trees, all trying to get strong despite deer and raccoons eating them. The temporary structure is to protect them till they are strong enough to fight back.With snow making a roof, it feels like a room in here. We thought it was neat until the weight of the snow collapsed the roof.Tara volunteered the next morning to go back down there and knock the snow off. Luckily the roof popped right back up. The next day it all happened again. Too much snow.Oooh! There IS blue sky up there above the clouds.Tara took advantage of my distraction with the blue sky. But wait, what is that in the water?This is one very cold duck.Photogenic tree by the creek.This horseshoe pit will be neglected for some time to come.Eventually Tara had to leave, which required first digging their car out.Tara asked us to follow them till they got onto the highway. Pedro took this shot of Tara’s car in front of us, and an early winter sunset over the Columbia River, just before we turned to go back home. Tara said with these terrible roads it took two hours to get to Portland, when it usually takes one.
One day it got a little warmer, and melted the top of the snow a little bit, then it got cold again. So now there is a crust of ice over the world, especially on the road out in front of my house. It’s a good thing I don’t have to go anywhere, because there are lots of steep hills between me and civilization and I don’t want to go out there and test them.
In between bursts of snow, I shoveled a path to the steps of the deck.Pedro let me use his skis.You can see my trail through the snow to check on the chickens. Their water freezes solid each night, so I have to keep dumping out the ice and refilling a bowl with liquid water.The view from my bedroom.Another perspective from my bedroom. There’s the chicken house below. Hi ladies!!
The weather-guessers (as my family calls meteorologists) keep saying we are due for warmer temperatures any time now. I keep checking the forecast, and the date of those “warm” temps and the amount of “warmth” predicted keeps shifting around. Back when I was married to Tara’s dad Dennis, and when I was employed as a weather forecaster, he liked to say my favourite weather joke of all: “I never know what I’m talking about either, but I don’t get PAID for it.” It always made me laugh.
That first photo would be a great Christmas card next year. The others are right behind it. I love seeing every one of these. It is scary to have so much snow and cold weather. E&E are having power outages and her mother has lost heat twice. She can’t work the fireplace. I hope your chickens don’t freeze out there. It’s just so beautiful. I understand about learning the camera. The best I can ever do is point and shoot, hoping for the best. Those photos are perfect as they are.
Thanks for the compliments and the understanding. I know I am capable of learning my camera, but for some reason I just don’t. Ah well. I’m sorry they are having power outages down there in AZ. Being without heat is the worst. My wood guy was out with a load of firewood a month ago when his truck was totaled by another driver. The insurance wasn’t enough to get him a new truck. Now their family has no wood, and like me, they heat only with wood. Thankfully, they knew my woodshed is stuffed full (because he’s the one I buy my wood from). I told them to take as much as they needed. I honestly think I have enough for the rest of the winter, so I can share. Being cold is scary, and so is losing power. But we live in the West, and this is winter, so we can all handle it. 🙂
They kids were down to 6 degrees this morning and it’s colder where the mother in law is as she’s 1000 ft higher. They have been really cold this winter.
Oh my, oh my, oh my! I just scrolled through this post together with amore. 😀 He was not enthusiastic about seeing so much snow at all, and showed visible awe over Pedro’s skills. These icicles look deadly! I hope it gets warmer soon, unless you have become skilled in cross-country and wish to do groceries on skis. 😉
Ha ha ha!! That would be a disaster! But probably funny to watch me try. I’m glad you both got to share our days in the snow with us from afar. I was just out sledding again today and it’s still loads of fun. The day DID warm up enough to make the snow soft again, instead of just ice, so I took advantage and played some more. It’s getting dark now and it still looks like just as much snow as ever. Maybe tomorrow will be “warm” too. I can always hope.
Brrr it looks extremely cold for a tropical person like me. But when the sun shines through the blue sky, it’s beautiful. I also like the view from your bedroom with those icicles. These all look so foreign yet peaceful to me who has to be content with torrential downpours these days in my part of the world. Happy New Year, Crystal! I wish you good health and a lot of happiness this year.
Happy New Year Bama!! You are right about the looks. It was cold for me, and I’ve lived most of my life in wintery cold places. But after 50 years, I’m tired of it and I’d rather have heat, ha ha! I hope you have as enjoyable a 2022 as possible, with good, sturdy umbrellas and wide awnings to stand under to catch your breath in the rain!
Thank you so much, Derrick. I haven’t even showed Pedro the photo yet, and I don’t think he has read my post yet. You have reminded me to send it to him right now.
It was a lot of snow. I love the transformation that snow brings. It’s all one colour, which adds a kind of artistic quality to the world, I think. I like the wide spaces unmarred by footsteps, or skis.
Wow, I love how you capture God’s handiwork! It looks like you are truly in a winter wonderland! These are the types of places that I see in Hallmark movies! I reading your posts and can’t wait until I have the chance to visit your beautiful part of the world! Of course it will be a little warmer when I come! Cheers! Carol
Thank you Carol! It’s almost all gone today, and I am glad. Snow is a delight for a few days, then I’m ready for it to be gone, ha ha! Now that you are arriving in January, I guess you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the snow over here for yourself! ❤
Conscious Engagement 
That first photo would be a great Christmas card next year. The others are right behind it. I love seeing every one of these. It is scary to have so much snow and cold weather. E&E are having power outages and her mother has lost heat twice. She can’t work the fireplace. I hope your chickens don’t freeze out there. It’s just so beautiful. I understand about learning the camera. The best I can ever do is point and shoot, hoping for the best. Those photos are perfect as they are.
Thanks for the compliments and the understanding. I know I am capable of learning my camera, but for some reason I just don’t. Ah well. I’m sorry they are having power outages down there in AZ. Being without heat is the worst. My wood guy was out with a load of firewood a month ago when his truck was totaled by another driver. The insurance wasn’t enough to get him a new truck. Now their family has no wood, and like me, they heat only with wood. Thankfully, they knew my woodshed is stuffed full (because he’s the one I buy my wood from). I told them to take as much as they needed. I honestly think I have enough for the rest of the winter, so I can share. Being cold is scary, and so is losing power. But we live in the West, and this is winter, so we can all handle it. 🙂
They kids were down to 6 degrees this morning and it’s colder where the mother in law is as she’s 1000 ft higher. They have been really cold this winter.
Oh my, oh my, oh my! I just scrolled through this post together with amore. 😀 He was not enthusiastic about seeing so much snow at all, and showed visible awe over Pedro’s skills. These icicles look deadly! I hope it gets warmer soon, unless you have become skilled in cross-country and wish to do groceries on skis. 😉
Ha ha ha!! That would be a disaster! But probably funny to watch me try. I’m glad you both got to share our days in the snow with us from afar. I was just out sledding again today and it’s still loads of fun. The day DID warm up enough to make the snow soft again, instead of just ice, so I took advantage and played some more. It’s getting dark now and it still looks like just as much snow as ever. Maybe tomorrow will be “warm” too. I can always hope.
Brrr it looks extremely cold for a tropical person like me. But when the sun shines through the blue sky, it’s beautiful. I also like the view from your bedroom with those icicles. These all look so foreign yet peaceful to me who has to be content with torrential downpours these days in my part of the world. Happy New Year, Crystal! I wish you good health and a lot of happiness this year.
Happy New Year Bama!! You are right about the looks. It was cold for me, and I’ve lived most of my life in wintery cold places. But after 50 years, I’m tired of it and I’d rather have heat, ha ha! I hope you have as enjoyable a 2022 as possible, with good, sturdy umbrellas and wide awnings to stand under to catch your breath in the rain!
A fine prose record with excellent photographs – especially the portrait of Pedro
Thank you so much, Derrick. I haven’t even showed Pedro the photo yet, and I don’t think he has read my post yet. You have reminded me to send it to him right now.
Wow, what a lot of snow, Crystal. I love how it completely transformed the landscape. Beautiful.
It was a lot of snow. I love the transformation that snow brings. It’s all one colour, which adds a kind of artistic quality to the world, I think. I like the wide spaces unmarred by footsteps, or skis.
Wow, I love how you capture God’s handiwork! It looks like you are truly in a winter wonderland! These are the types of places that I see in Hallmark movies! I reading your posts and can’t wait until I have the chance to visit your beautiful part of the world! Of course it will be a little warmer when I come! Cheers! Carol
Thank you Carol! It’s almost all gone today, and I am glad. Snow is a delight for a few days, then I’m ready for it to be gone, ha ha! Now that you are arriving in January, I guess you’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the snow over here for yourself! ❤