Oh, The Weather Out There Is Frightful!

Only a few nights ago I was enjoying nighttime terrace dining in San Diego. On the way home Friday I drove the last 30 miles of mountain road in the first of our forecast snowflakes. That first night we got a dusting that disappeared the next day into the shadows. Saturday we got snow flurries off and on but nothing that added to the small patches of left over white. Today the mountain vistas disappeared behind skies turned thick with cold gray and tonight the snow started in earnest.

Snowing in England? Nope. William and I went to the pub for dinner. This was the view out my side of the booth. I liked how the snowy street scene was overlaid by the matching white, blue and red reflections of signs and holiday lights.


The pub is in the front corner of an old uptown hotel that new owners are renovating. This is the old sign. It's been removed from outside but is displayed (I hope permanently) in this room that works as a passageway between the pub and the hotel foyer. You might be able to see the lovely old blue patina if you click to open this photo.


When I went out to the car I was playing around with capturing the falling snow in the light of this old fashioned street lamp. This photo gives you the best idea of how fast and thick it was coming down.

This faster shutter speed is crisp and more snow flakey though.

I liked this unexpected affect. A huge fire truck drove by as I clicked and you can see the lights of the truck but no truck, only the street behind it!


Here's another above the side door with a dusting of snow on the sheltered awning behind it.

I went to the market afterward. When I was heading back out to the car with my loaded cart, I had to wait in the doorway with a half dozen other people because some nut job was doing doughnuts and skidding his car all over the parking lot almost hitting cars and poles at every turn. Folks were cursing at the idiots and flipping open their cell phones to call the police but before anyone could finish pushing buttons, a CHP that just happened to be driving by on the highway pulled in. The crazies in the car thought they could pull into a parking lot and turn off their lights and "hide". I don't think so. For one thing I think the CHP pulled in off the highway because they had seen the action already. And if they hadn't, all the men in our little group ran out into the snow pointing the way for the police.

By the time I got to my car, it had disappeared under at least three inches of snow and no matter how fast I scraped it off (with a frisbee because of course I hadn't bothered to dig out my snow scraper yet!) the windows would be covered in snow before I could finish uncovering them all. Meanwhile, the young daredevils were standing out in the cold while the cops sat in their warm cozy truck calling in back up or writing them a ticket or whatever they were doing. I thought that was a good first step, to let them shiver for a while. After all, they had forced the rest of us to stand huddled in the cold for almost five minutes because it was too dangerous to step away from the building! BRRRRRRR!

Now, a few hours later, there's at least a half foot out there and it's supposed to continue tonight and then off and on for most of the week. William's grumbling that I won't let him drive to school tomorrow - he's never driven in snow and his car isn't really meant for winter use. Hubby just got home, he had to wrestle with the trailer to make a space to park on the side yard instead of the street so that it's clear for the snow plow which still hasn't been by - they're probably all busy with the highway and mountain roads. We used to get plowed right away because the hospital and the junior high school were both just down the road. Now the junior high school isn't being used and the hospital moved to the other side of town and they take their time getting to us. At least we still get plowed. The smaller side streets sometimes never get plowed out all winter. I'll probably hear the sounds of the plows - the scraping of the blade and the beeping of their back up signal as they widen the nearby intersection - as I'm laying in bed in the dark, their blinking lights flashing by against the back of the drawn curtains if I'm awake enough to open my eyes.

Well, will you look at that - I can see the bottom of the mug that held my brandied, nutmeg topped, warmed eggnog. Oh dear, I can't have that! It's time to go put the kettle on and pick something else to keep me from getting chilled. Chocolate chai? Hot cocoa? Some of my new, spiced Caramel Apple tea? What would go best with a snowy husband stomping in the door, a couchful of warm cats and dogs, addressing holiday cards, and a quirky old movie on the telly?