Last week the radio alarm went off as it does every weekday indicating it's time to get out of bed and make the tea, shuffle around in my robe and slippers and wake the hell up before shoveling all 50 of our stairs, the driveway and scrape ice from my windshields as much as possible. But when I heard that it was 17 degrees BELOW ZERO - that's a negative number - I hugged the comforter tighter and rolled over. This was a three snooze morning.
I spent 18 years growing up in Southern California, specifically Burbank which was a sleepy suburb on the backside of the Hollywood sign hill. After college in Utah I moved back to Los Angeles and lived all over that city for years - Santa Monica twice, LA or Beverly Hills adjacent (as it's called which is basically anywhere near the Beverly Center) and Playa del Rey (Manhatten Beach adjacent). After having my fill of LA I moved to Northern California - Los Gatos which is on the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains. During childhood almost all family vacations were to Tahoe in the summer, Utah or Colorado in the winter. . . I am definitely a western states kind of girl, familiar with the hot summers of Utah/Arizona and the winters of Utah/Colorado. I have also lived in France and Switzerland for extended periods of time, including winters. So even though my roots are Californian I've been exposed to what I'd call bits of extreme weather . . . but 17 below is tough for me to comprehend. Might as well be 40 below . . . really what's the difference?
Needless to say it's been an adjustment living in the "High Country" (as they call it). I've learned that turtlenecks are my best friends, along with our wood-burning stove and Cabela's Shearling Clogs featuring plush fleece lining. It's been record breaking temperatures and snowfall in Vail. Two days ago we got 6" of snow, last night we got 13". Even people used to winter here are having to adjust. Dave & I got back from the gym last night and shoveled our driveway for an hour.
But all of this is worth it because this is what I do on my lunchbreaks. (click photo to view large)
I spent 18 years growing up in Southern California, specifically Burbank which was a sleepy suburb on the backside of the Hollywood sign hill. After college in Utah I moved back to Los Angeles and lived all over that city for years - Santa Monica twice, LA or Beverly Hills adjacent (as it's called which is basically anywhere near the Beverly Center) and Playa del Rey (Manhatten Beach adjacent). After having my fill of LA I moved to Northern California - Los Gatos which is on the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains. During childhood almost all family vacations were to Tahoe in the summer, Utah or Colorado in the winter. . . I am definitely a western states kind of girl, familiar with the hot summers of Utah/Arizona and the winters of Utah/Colorado. I have also lived in France and Switzerland for extended periods of time, including winters. So even though my roots are Californian I've been exposed to what I'd call bits of extreme weather . . . but 17 below is tough for me to comprehend. Might as well be 40 below . . . really what's the difference?
Needless to say it's been an adjustment living in the "High Country" (as they call it). I've learned that turtlenecks are my best friends, along with our wood-burning stove and Cabela's Shearling Clogs featuring plush fleece lining. It's been record breaking temperatures and snowfall in Vail. Two days ago we got 6" of snow, last night we got 13". Even people used to winter here are having to adjust. Dave & I got back from the gym last night and shoveled our driveway for an hour.
But all of this is worth it because this is what I do on my lunchbreaks. (click photo to view large)