See You Next Time

Alan is flying home tonight and I almost feel like we had a little vacation ourselves! It's been nice to spend time with our old friend and to look at where we live through a visitor's eye. (Never mind all the cold rain - the snow that still hasn't melted is fantastic!)We had a nice dinner at Cholada with Mitch and Julie last night and Alan and I walked around Bubbling Springs Park and Hueneme Beach on my lunch hour. I'm so glad he finally got some sunny days at the end of his vacation!

Super Tuesday - New Snow on the Mountains!

Okay, I'm sure most people are no longer interested, but I'm still amazed by all the snow - new snow - that appeared after this latest storm blew through!I went to the Channel Islands Harbor to take some pictures at lunch and was pleasantly surprised to see this Great Blue heron along with the beautiful snow panoramas! I uploaded them into a small format, but click on each photo to get a better look.


Alan came back in time to watch the election results but he also got a big monitor to make looking at the photos stored on his laptop more entertaining.

A Rainy, Blustery, and Mellow Super Bowl Sunday

The latest storm arrived from the north around 3 this morning and dropped .6 inch rain before blowing out this afternoon. Dick arrived at noon and it was nice spending the day catching up, sharing photos, and making music together. Mark and Kathy dropped by during the game and added more music, (delicious cookies!), and mellowness to the blustery afternoon. The posting title will link you to some pictures.

The Snow is Still on Our Mountains

Rain, warm rain, is predicted for tonight and tomorrow so this may be the last time we'll get to see all this snow as we travel around the county. It was cool but sunny again today - a really beautiful winter day! (And a beautiful "pink moment" as the sun was setting!)

Addendum: I just realized today's significance (besides it being Jane's birthday!) and end with this quote my friend, Judy V, emailed me:

This year Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fell on the same day.

It's an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of limited intelligence for meaningless prognostication on subjects he doesn't understand.
The other involved a groundhog.
(Click on the photo of Punxsutawney Phil to read about this year's prognostication.)

February 1st - Flowers and Snow

The last of the big rain left Monday morning and we've had sunny skies ever since. We always have narcissus (the smaller, paperwhite-type daffodils) blooming since November, but now the real bulbs are starting to poke their leaves out of the ground and just a few are beginning to bloom! (Click on this posting's title to see a few more new flowers.)Although it has been sunny, it has continued to be cool and I've been taking pictures of the snow every day - it is so awesome to see it not disappearing like usual! (It's not unusual to see snow on Topa Topa - just look at last January's postings or even April 2006. What is unusual is that it hasn't melted away yet.) I took this shot as the clouds were beginning to return today. Highway 33 is still closed at Wheeler Campground, so there still must be tons of snow up in Rose Valley and on Mt. Pinos.Click here for more snow views.