A long ski

It was a tricky day with rain, snow, sleet, low clouds and darkness that folded us in to itself while we were still far from anywhere.
Michael picked up 20 gallons of veggie oil from three different restaurants to start things off. There has been so much snow down by Mill Creek that the trees are snapping off and breaking the power lines. There was a raft of PG&E trucks there... but at least their power is back up.

This is an aside. A few weeks ago in Cohasset, looking out to the valley. Friends helped me dig little cedars on their land for folks in Concow who are replanting after the fire.

This is the Mill Creek drainage.. with weather closing back in. We skied along from Morgan summit snowmobile park contouring along until we could drop down to Mineral, about eight miles. We had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant there.

My thoughts wander on these long trips and one thing I did was puzzle about Obama. He seems to have that "speaking truth to power" thing. His irony, humor and sincerity are still believable. The trouble is he has the power and everything he says doesn't link to what is true, or right, anyway... the other night in the State of the Union speech he just rolled through his energy plans for nuclear, off shore drilling and "clean" coal... as if these were honest options that should be in the mix. He is so glib he just slid through that content without comment and it was stunning in an alarming way... I don't know where it all goes next nor where to confront it.

It's good to get a break from worrying about the snow pack though. It is lovely out there and hardly anybody is around. There is more mountain winter flowing in from the Pacific so don't be too quick to start your spring if you didn't get up into the snow yet.