Caught in the Vortex.

where do I start.... so much has happened since my last posting.

My job continues to challenge me and keep me busy. Very happy.



Zach landed a job as a freestyle snowboard coach for College of the Siskiyous. so perfect. He has been having so much fun. He started the job in December and ran a 2 week snowboard clinic. Since then he's spent 4 days riding squaw, last week he rode mammoth 4 days, this week he is going to sugarbowl, and then in another week somewhere else in Tahoe. All else aside, he gets paid. So jealous....

Pictures from Squaw and Mammoth.



Well we survived what the 'Shasta Herald', called the storm of the century. The mountain received 60 inches in 2 days. It also closed for several days due to power outages and high winds, but when it opened it was epic. It was a great introduction to Mt. Shasta ski park. The park currently has 164". The peak of the storm for us was a Thursday, we woke up in the middle of the night to the windows in the house rattling. We looked outside to see our large pine trees blowing side ways in the wind. No one slept. We layed in bed, waiting for either the windows to explode from the high winds, or a tree to come through the wall. It made us both feel very small and insignificant. I couldn't wait for the sun to rise. The night seemed to last for ever, but when it ended the air smelled a little fresher, the sky brighter. When it was all said and done we lost 4 trees, part of our roof, part of our barn's roof, and our neighbor lost her barn. We later found out that the winds reached over 100 miles an hour.



I am amazed how many birds are out in the middle of winter. Lots of birds of prey.... we saw a bald eagle circling the crags behind our house the other day. My mom just came to visit last week and when I took her out to the barn there was the great horned owl, sitting on the lowest beam in the barn close to us, almost as if it was posing for her... I have watched hawks grab mice from the tall grass, and more days than I can remember, they sit on the fence posts as I drive up and down the dirt driveway, with the smaller songbirds chasing the car. Some nights when I come home from work, jack rabbits try to race me home, bouncing in my car's headlights.


It feels like spring is just around the corner. We spent the day today cleaning up the storm damage. Mother nature did a good job pruning all of our trees for us. We are looking at the garden getting excited for summer. We planted 2 trees today, pluotts.... a hybrid of a plum and apricot, a gift from our brother Nate. He has been awesome helping us get this place together. He also gave us a purple peach tree last summer, Thanks Nate.

Hope everyone is having a great new year!!!