Wild Weather

 

This is a trail cam shot from the day I arrived home from Colorado, December 29.

New Years Day was an anomaly.  It was sunny and pleasantly warm. 

This is one of the most crowded days we have ever seen on "our beach" with about 10 cars in the parking lot.

We stayed almost til sunset to take advantage of the minus tide.

I believe this is a Coho salmon that was on our river bank.  It is pretty tricky to differentiate the different salmon and steelhead.  You have to look at the color of their gums, the number of rays in the anal fin, spotting, and shape.  We put it back in the river to keep it away from Daisy.

We had heavy wind and rains (4") the night of January 2-3, which brought down old alders, Douglas fir limbs, and loads of smaller branches.  It also ripped off our front yard canopy.

We will be busy!  

My rain total for 2021 was 117.56", the most rainfall of the last 3 years.  What is daunting, though, is that there was hardly any rain from mid-March until mid-September. Usually there is some rain through the summer months, and gentler rains in the winter.  Global warming?

We had some inconvenience the past 2 days as our well/water system mysteriously went dead.  We had an expert working on it the past 2 days and it came back to life this evening.  Byron was working on it until 9:30 last night, in the rain and dark.  Today, he finished at about 5:00 and was headed up to Lincoln City to replace a well pump at the bottom of a 200 ft. well.  He sometimes works til midnight.  He said he'd return tomorrow and teach me how to service our acid neutralizer/ filter, and haul out a huge steel tank that is a detriment to our system.  What a worker!

Well, I think I'm caught up with all the news that's fit to print. Happy New Year!

Snowfall At River Song

 In the almost 4 years we have lived here, the snowiest week by far was the week I was gone to Colorado. Luckily, Gail took some pictures and videos of the spectacle.  Daisy really seemed to enjoy rolling and running through the thick of it!

Christmas In Colorado

 I flew to Colorado for a week to celebrate the holidays with my two kids, Nick and Andria, and my grandchildren Nora, Soren, and Susanna, and Elaine.  It was the first time I have been on a plane in 2 years!  

Patty, the "good" cat, proudly displaying her holiday spirit.  Smokey, the naughty cat, was stealing food, opening Christmas gifts containing pet treats or food, and generally being a hooligan teenager.

Elaine made the annual Sicilian dinner which was highly anticipated and appreciated.

Another table view.  Dave, at the end of the table, recently returned home from his deployment to Bahrain.  He will be working right at home in Colorado Springs for at least the next 3 years. Yeah!

For the Christmas Eve talent show The Very Specials played the ska tune  A Message to Rudy by The Specials.  Andria and Nora played trombones, Soren played the drums, and I did the 15 second intro on the harmonica.

I also showed a 23 minute video of select trail cam videos and night photography photos.

Elaine and Nick performed Kenny Roger's "The Gambler", at times accompanied by Soren, Dave, and Susanna.

Nick and Andria prepping breakfast.

Nick made his world class popovers, which vanished before I got a second one.

Nora and Susanna posing with new tie wrap and hat, gifts from Gail.

Soren made me this wonderful tool box in his metal shop class.  It required welding and riveting.

Inside is a tray that lifts out.

On the 27th, Dave, Nick, Nora, and I did a 5.5 mile hike in the Front Range hills.  The temp was in the 20's and there was a strong wind.

Group shot!

I made Susanna a birdhouse kit.  Here she is woodburning a cat on the front board.

She screwed the whole thing together while I helped her hold the pieces together.

Soren is getting quite good on the drums.  Here he and Nick perform Journey's "Lights".

Zoom session with Sarah

One of the highlights of the week was a Zoom session with Aunt Sarah (my sister) in Alaska.  She had us spellbound with stories of her little NICU patients.  An hour and a half flew by before we knew it.

Meanwhile, back at River Song, Gail was experiencing a white Christmas, with a week of snow flurries.  I was sorry to have missed that as the pictures looked so beautiful.  There was still quite a bit of snow left around the property when I returned on the 29th.  Pictures to come!