A Winter Wonderland

Winter has arrived in Southern California. A big snow storm hit the Western US and it even snowed in Malibu. It also covered the SSP area with white powder. Local residents were out of electricity for three days... It's a hard thing when one's water pump, radiators and freezers run on electricity. The roads to and fro were closed, even via Mojave where my friend Ted had to spend a night in his car coming back from a ski day in Mammoth. I had to wait for the weekend to go up and by then, all was back to normal with some snow left.


The Grapevine near Gorman


The Lion's Trail


Cows and horses by the Rankin Ranch

Evan and Jorgy came up with me. It was Jorgy's first encounter with snow but it didn't seem to bother him. He walked cautiously at first but then after he realized the snow wasn't wet, he ran and slid quite happily.



We got to the cabin and were happy to find there was still snow around. A local friend had emailed me photos that showed everything covered in white but since we came a few days later, quite a bit of snow had melted. Still, I found it very pretty.



The next day we took off for a walk. The little creek has started flowing a little, slowly recreating its course.



Oaks in the snow, such a lovely sight.



We walked around the pond...





... And came across footprints. Can you guess what kind of animal left those? : )



It was cold at night but our trusted potbelly stove and some blankets kept everybody cozy.



We are all coming up for New Year's for a few days and I look forward to it. Meanwhile, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! My best wishes for health, love, prosperity, safety, peace in 2009 (and beyond!) to all.