Lately, It's All About The Sky

First things first, our power was restored Tuesday afternoon. Roger had already figured out how to power the water heater with the generator, so we had showered and were squeaky-clean happy when everything started humming on its own again. It had been a full 60 hours without electricity, but Roger's ingenuity and pure wiring genius got us through it.

So, we could finally fully enjoy the winter mountain skies after the storm, which are incredibly clear and beautiful. It's never quite as sparkling bright in the summer, when the choking heat of the Sacramento Valley and the smoggy air from the bay area drift all the way here. That's why these freezing cold mornings are the perfect time for venturing out to see Venus. Venus before sunrise on a clear morning, and Venus before sunrise cloaked in pink clouds. I swear I would brave the coldest temps to get a glimpse of this every morning of every day. I wake up singing, "Good morning, Venus..."
And then in the chilly evenings we get to see Jupiter. This is such an amazing thing for us, to stand out on our deck and see planets. PLANETS! Why is it so thrilling? Maybe it's that confirmation and reassurance that we are after all just whirling through space, and the sight of other orbiting bodies puts it all in some proper perspective. How small we are, how very, very small.
Late in the morning on Friday, when the temps warmed up to a balmy 45 F degrees (7 C), we took a much-needed walk to breathe the fresh air and survey the storm damage. Many tree limbs down from the heavy wet snow. The sky is filling up with clouds in a preview for tomorrow's expected snow storm. The sun and clouds create spectacular sundogs, reminding us of Monet's paintings. We feel ready for any kind of weather now, and lately we just can't take our eyes off the sky. It's all good.