Dreary

Stupid weather. 

When it's not totally grey, overcast, and getting ready to rain, like this....(and this is NOT a conversion--this is living Seattle color, folks)

 ...it's doing this, where the only excitement is watching the rain on the driveway.  For a week.  Yuck.

But, at least I don't have to shovel it, and I don't have to wear 18 layers to go outside.

On the downside, the stupid weather changes have given me a week-long migraine.  All that time wasted.  Here's hoping better, more settled weather and no headaches for the week ahead!!!

Glorious!!

What an absolutely gorgeous, glorious day!  The rain stopped, the sun came out, we have blue skies, and the temp was 50!!  I threw on my hiking shoes and went out to Rattlesnake Lake to hike for a bit.  I wasn't the only one with that idea....lots of people and dogs, especially Labs and water dogs, doing what they love best.  Don't those silly humans know that they will wear out LONG before their retrievers get tired of racing into the water after something??

Had to laugh--there was a tall, very physically fit guy (looked like someone from an Eddie Bauer catalog) hiking with his dog---Gwendolyn, a long-haired daschund.  Somehow the two just didn't fit...  And he looked like a Lab guy, too.

Anyway, it was gorgeous out at the lake.  Very little breeze, so the water was still and reflective.  It was a great mental health break.  I can always center myself out in nature.

Snow-capped

Yesterday morning I awoke to see Mt. Si topped with snow.  The freezing level had dropped low enough to give the mountain a pretty good coating of fresh snow, but still high enough that down in the valley we had nothing but wet roads.  The mountain was swathed in low hanging clouds and river fog, and the view from the valley overlook was stunning.  Man, I love living here!!

 A closer detail of the top from the road near my house.  Zoom, zoom!

In the Blink of an Eye

Taken from the car after pulling over on the side of the road.  It was raining, the sky was full of clouds with not a break in sight, but there, between one breath and the next, was a little reminder of better days ahead.  This vanished almost as soon as I pushed the shutter.

High Water

Our cold snap is over, with a vengeance.  I caught this before the warmer weather and all the rain hit.

But the rain!  Ok, I am grateful it is just rain; if it were snow, we would have about 4 1/2' this month.  We've gotten over 4" of rain since Friday, and the rivers are rushing high and wide.  Flood warnings out all over; we nearly cancelled church yesterday since half our parking lot was flooded, and there are several families in the ward who live in the flood zones.  We had church though, and those families who were at risk of being unable to return home if the rivers got too high had the option to stay home.  They did.  It's no fun being stuck on the wrong side of the flood.

In the meantime, Snoqualmie Falls is in full spate.  I hopped over today during a lull in the rain to grab a couple of shots.  There is so much water coming over the Falls so quickly that there are immense clouds of mist kicked up, and half the time you can't even see the Falls. From where I took these photos, the mist was so thick that it might as well have been rain--hard rain at that.  I was soaked in 10 minutes, but it sure was fun.

Ice Abstracts

We've been fortunate enough to have some cold weather lately--cold enough for snow, and even ice!  Sounds sick to be excited about ice, but when winter usually means 6 months of rain, ice is an event to be celebrated.

I love what happens in frozen puddles---when it's icy, I go puddle-hunting to see what kind of wonderful abstract designs I can find.  There are always some gems, hidden in plain sight for those who are willing to look.

Whew!

Dodged that one!  The night before last we had high winds through here--gusts up to 70 mph.  When I woke up in the morning, the 30' pine beside the driveway had been topped--the top of it was sheared right off by the wind gusts.  Fortunately it fell to the side, not in the road or across the driveway.  At least 6' of top was snapped off.  I am SOO grateful that it was that tree, and not one of the Doug firs around the house--those bad boys are 120' or so, and even a big limb coming down on the house can do significant damage.  There are always stories in the news every year about a tree coming down on a house and killing the occupants.  So, I am grateful that it was just 6' from the top of a tree by the driveway...

 And no wonder it snapped!  The way the trunk had twisted (thanks to the winds, I think) and those branches formed, the trunk was weakened in that particular spot, and all it took was some driving, twisting winds to snap it.

Embellished

While I was out hiking in the cold, I couldn't help but notice some wonderful frosted details.  It was so cold that the moisture in the air was still freezing and settling; it was like walking though a glitter storm.  I felt as if I were in a snow globe.  You can see the small, very small, flakes of snow/frost/"glitter" still falling in this shot.

 Even an old, past-its-season leaf left on the tree looks better wrapped in a blanket of white.

Nature's Flocking

more from my chilly hike

Winter Wonderland

One morning while I was at L's in Iowa, we awoke to this...  There had been freezing fog the night before, so there was a heavy coating of hoar frost on EVERYTHING.  It was spectacular!!  I bundled up and went out with the camera--couldn't pass this up, and add the blue sky and sunshine to the equation, and it was pretty much perfect.  Except the temps.  It was a brisk 7 degrees while I was out there tromping around.  Thank goodness the wind wasn't blowing!!  It was so cold that the minute I turned the camera on you could almost hear the batteries draining.  It was worth it, cold fingers, toes, nose and all!!