kevin_standlee | Slip Sliding Away

Yesterday, Lisa made an excellent lamb stew, and while we were having dinner, the last of this current series of snowstorms began to fall. We swept the porch as the snow continued to fall, and decided that we should go out for a walk, despite the snow. We kitted up (after finding

travelswithkuma warm hat) and instead of my normal Aussie hat, I wore the Bear Hat with the built-in scarf I got at Toronto a few years ago. (It looks a little silly, but it's warm.)

In retrospect, it appears that we went out during the peak of this stage of the storm. I had trouble seeing where I was going because my glasses fogged up. I did stop and take this picture at the center of Fernley (the only traffic light downtown). You can see Lisa and my footprints trailing away behind us.

As we made our way down the snow-covered sidewalks, I lost my footing and took a tumble, falling on my right side (and the elbow that I've previously complained about). I took no real harm, although I feel a bit of a bruise along that side. At the time, I was more worried about whether I'd fallen on my mobile phone, but it also took no harm. I gingerly regained my feet and we continued onward, albeit more slowly.

We took refuge at the Family Dollar store and knocked off some of the snow that was encrusting us. After warming up a bit, we headed home, and by then the snow had slackened somewhat.

I don't want to make it sound like we were in white-out conditions in a massive blizzard. Total accumulation was maybe 3-4 cm overnight, compared to the close to two meters of snow they got up in the Sierra Nevada. I-80 and US-50 were closed again for extended periods, I understand.

Today, the snow stopped and I got the sidewalks cleared plus a path to what's left of our rapidly shrinking firewood supply. The forecast for the next week is for no more precipitation, but such snow that is on the ground may stick around for a while, because temperatures aren't going to go much above freezing.