Category: Reasons California doesn’t suck

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The Calm before the storm

So, today dawned bright and beautiful. The temp never dropped below freezing last night so I was able to remove the glacier that had formed on the rear deck.

That is a priority for my safety and Jesse’s since he often leaps before he looks. I’ll grant you that the look on his face when he can’t stop on the ice is funny. But he’s still growing and I’d like to prevent him straining his hips or shoulders with a fall on the deck, or worse yet a tumble down the stairs.

After I finished that chore, we went for our morning walk.

I figured it was a good time to tease you skiers. Conditions are pretty good right now the snow isn’t too packed and you can’t beat 40°F.

I should caution you… Before you grab your gear and come running up the mountain. First off it’s very windy. Second off by 7PM it’s supposed to be snowing. “Great!” You think. Uh not so much, before the snow it’s supposed to be raining. With the already icy conditions adding rain means that the roads will become like greased glass. Then the snowfall prediction is anywhere from 11″ to 17″ altitude dependent.

This means that chain requirements will be in force, and low slung vehicles probably won’t be able to make it up the hill. This storm is supposed to last into Saturday and I’m sure that the snow plows will be doing their best but turnouts may be blocked off by piles of snow so you won’t be able to pull off the road to put your chains on even if you’ve got ’em. Those little cable things are probably not going to cut it either.

I’m guessing that the I-15 will be closed at some point during the storm and that Sunday the roads up here might be passable. But do you really want to spend 5 hours sitting in traffic so that you can ski on crowded slopes, or play in the snow for a few hours, then spend another 5 hours getting home so you can go to work on Monday?

I didn’t think so…

As for us locals, we’ll we’re all making runs to grocery stores and picking up stuff that we’ll need to hunker down. We’re doing errands and trying to take care of little things before the storm hits.

I’m heading out myself in a few minutes to join the fray.

I’ll leave you with these peaceful pictures so you’ll know what you’re missing.

Yeah, I’ve got a bit of a cruel streak.

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The heat broke…

It’s a very nice 72° F here. I’ve been outside on the deck all day. I’ve been able to power my computer via my solar panel and battery. I’ve recharged several devices and am now recharging the battery pack from the solar panel.

In the course of all of this I’ve been all over the deck keeping the panel in the sun. I’ve sent out job applications (for whatever that’s worth), I’ve still got a few to finish the cover letters on but it’s been a lovely productive day, at least in a digital sense.

Light breezes and quiet working environment make days like this especially nice here in the mountains. Days like this are meant for writing.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

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Here’s a rare sight.

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This is a nice Tarantula. He just walked across my drive way like nobodies business. I ran in and grabbed the camera then caught up with him in front of the neighbors driveway

They’re indigenous to the area but we don’t see them very often. In fact this is only the second tarantula I’ve seen in the wild since I moved here in 1991.

I didn’t want to scare it or cause it to feel threatened.

He froze when I started taking pictures and while he didn’t seem to be threatened he was justifiably cautious. I snapped only a few pictures, then let him be on his way.

This critter had someplace to be, it was moving pretty darn fast, but it wasn’t running.

After looking up tarantulas native to southern California on the web it turns out that there are only 2 species in this area.

This is an example of the Black Tarantula (Aphonopelma reversum) and this one is probably a male. He’s also a big boy the specs say his body is usually about 1 inch or so, this dude is double that.

I’ll have to keep my eyes open for the other species which I’ve never seen. It’s and I can’t help but chuckle since this is California… The Blond Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes) They usually show up a couple months after the Black Tarantulas. But as I said, I’ve never seen one.

This guy has probably become sexually mature and is doing what males do… Looking for a mate.

Unfortunately for him, if he finds a mate she’s likely to kill him then eat him. after sex of course…

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Wow talk about a harsh punishment for not pleasing your partner!

This is one of the reasons I like living here. You never know what you’re likely to encounter, and more often than not the encounters can be very cool and no-one gets hurt.

There are of course exceptions to every rule but thus far my encounters have been of the peaceful variety I hope that continues to be the trend.

My pride was hurt once when a California King Snake treed me on top of my motorcycle.

Being raised in the South, we were taught to fear the Coral Snake. The California King mimics the color pattern of the Coral Snake and to a Southern boy like myself seeing a certain combination of colors moving out of the corner of my eye will cause a dramatic leap to the top of anything nearby.

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My so called friends had a big laugh, and honestly I laughed too once I processed the following; I’m above 6000 ft, In California, and that snake is WAY too big to be a Coral snake.

In fact, that Kingsnake lived in my yard for many years, and I saw it often while gardening.

I think it was seeing if it could make me jump again, probably had a mean streak or a great sense of humor.

The 1st picture is of a Coral Snake. (Venomous)

The 2nd picture is of a California Mountain Kingsnake (Non Venomous)

Yes they’re very different, but when assessing the danger factor if you assume the snake is poisonous odds are you’re going to live!

The California Kingsnake comes in a bewildering variety of colors.

After doing some research, I found out that the California Mountain Kingsnake appears to mimic the Arizona Coral Snake.

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The last photo shows an Arizona Coral snake. Like it’s Southern cousin, it’s very poisonous They are related to cobras and their venom is a neurotoxin.

Which is why, when it comes to snakes, it’s always a good idea to leave them be.