Saturday, February 09, 2008

It's Snowing Again!

We live in the middle of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Everyone knows it rains and rains and rains in this area; however, lately it's been snowing and snowing and snowing.

This is a picture of our barn. You can see that the sun came out briefly and the snow started to slide off the roof, but then it started snowing again. Pretty soon, we had over a foot of snow and it was hard for Stephen to get back and forth to check on his chickens. It was even harder to get the car out of the driveway and get down to town.

Even though we're only 3-1/2 miles from town, we're up in elevation. That means it can be raining in town and snowing here in the foothills of the Coast Range. I can call work and say "I'm snowed in," and they will think I'm making it up because it's only raining where they are.

Fortunately, it hasn't snowed as much here as it has in other parts of Oregon. I heard that they had 150 inches of snow in Idanha and Detroit, both of which are in the foothills of the Cascade Range, approximately an hour's drive from here. That translates to about 12-1/2 feet of snow. I can't even imagine it!

My idea of snow is to look out the window at Mt. Hood in the distance, gleaming white in the beautiful sun, and know that if I wanted to go there, I could. It's not my idea to have to wade through it to get to the car!

Here's another photo of the trees outside our living room window that Stephen took. Even though the film is black and white, it's beautiful, don't you think? Since it's time for me to go to work, I think I'll call and say, "I'm snowed in again!" Then I can sit back with a cup of tea, relax, and enjoy the view.