Country Drive 8

Rain in the valley usually means snow in the mountains. You can see along the horizon the end of the Blue Mountains, white with fresh snow.

A Blue Clear Sky

When the skies are clear like this in winter...you know it's going to be cold that night. But at least the daytime looks beautiful to make up for it! These are the Blue Mountains which in this case should probably be called the White Mountains. They've gotten a fair dumping of snow over the last couple of months, and I hope it helps keep our water levels acceptable this coming summer. This is a view from Highway 11, looking east.

The Sentinal

This large tree stands at a corner I pass by every morning on my way to work. It towers over the house and the telephone pole next to it, and I think it looks even more regal with the snow on its branches, don't you?

On the Way to Work

This was the view I had this morning as I left my house for work. The sky was beautiful; for the last several days we've had nothing but fog, so to see the sky was amazing enough, but the cloud formations and lovely colours were a nice bonus. Good morning!

Typical

This is a typical scene out my office window in the winter. Well, when there's snow. Really I'm just getting at the fact that it's quite dark and grey for a majority of the colder months here in the WW Valley. A lot of people strongly dislike this fact, but I suppose those same people are appeased when June, July and August roll around with its 100-degree (F) weather every summer. They can have their summer...I'll enjoy wearing scarves and hats, thank you!

Cugini

This little shop is on the edge of town in College Place, and is one place I've yet to visit. It can be quite handy to have a place like this in a small town where, sadly, no Italian eateries exist. If you can't go to a restaurant, learn to make it yourself!

U-Church

The biggest church in the valley, the Walla Walla U. Church, stands tall and regal, surrounded by the first snow of the season and given a backdrop of blue sky - some of the only glimpses we've seen for over a week! A couple thousand people attend this church every weekend, many of them university students. The university is part of the Seventh-day Adventist school system, which has over a dozen colleges and universities in North America alone, with dozens more around the world, including locations such as India, England, France, Australia, Philippines, Spain, Austria, Argentina and more.

Update

Some of you may recall my post last spring of my daughter at eight months old. It's one of my favourite pictures to this day and hangs in large version on the wall in my living room. I also posted a picture of when she was only three days old, taken back at the beginning of August 2009. Here is an update shot...she's now walking everywhere, dressing like a big girl and growing slowly but surely. She can say a few words now, and understands almost infinitely more than she did even a month ago. This is her walking with her daddy to the car after church this past weekend.

Good Morning

I just love the view from my front window on days like this. The snow makes everything clean and quiet, and the sunlight on such a scene makes me warm inside. In America it is now officially the Christmas season, now that Thanksgiving is over (though all the stores and many homes put up decorations at the beginning of November). This scene is quite fitting for that time of year, as all of us in the northern hemisphere imagine white Christmases! (Sorry, Aussies...I just can't imagine a Christmas on the beach!)

Frosty Morning

Earlier this week it got down to about five degrees (F) at night. When we woke up there was not only frost like this on the kitchen window, but in our bedroom there was ice on the inside of the window. Our house is old and not well-insulated, and the windows are old and drafty. The frost did create a pretty scene through the window, though.

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

It snowed practically all day yesterday and we had several inches by the time dinner rolled around. (I'm not sure what the official count was.) I took this photo from my (warm!) car; the central building on the Walla Walla U. campus is the administration building and the campus seems to fan out from this central point. It was, indeed, still snowing when I took this picture yesterday morning.

Tangled

The first thing that catches my eye about this photo is of course the bright red berries in contrast with the dark branches and white snow. But the next thing I noticed was the incredible woven "pattern" of the branches of this beautiful bush. This was taken at Walla Walla U. yesterday morning.

Perseverance

Yes, the snow hit the valley this weekend. We are forecast to have eight inches by tomorrow morning, and I believe it might just happen. I love the way the summer's last flowers look covered in snow. Their colours look even more vivid this way. This particular flower is determined to survive as long as possible on the Walla Walla U. campus this winter.

First Snow

A friend of mine grabbed this photo from what I call Mt. Hope Hill, as it is where Mt. Hope Cemetery is located in College Place. We got our first snow of the season on the Blue Mountains, all the way down to the base of the foothills, on Wednesday night. She took this picture on Thursday evening.

Tour of the Back Roads 8

Here, our last stop on our first tour of the WWV back roads, we see a field weed coated in ice, preserved until the sun warms the ground enough to fight back. And thus ends this tour of the back roads, though I do hope to go on another one, perhaps in the spring when there is more colour in the valley. I hope you'll join us for that tour, as well. You probably won't need your mittens for that one.

Tour of the Back Roads 7

Earlier on our tour of the back roads of the WWV, we encountered this field, covered in ice and snow, lined with icicle-laden trees. Yesterday we took a closer look at the trees themselves; today we're scanning the field and noticing each sparkle of ice-covered grass and stump of cut hay. You can see a few sparkles in this photo. Tomorrow we'll get up close and personal with the ground and see what makes the field sparkle like glass. Then we'll call it good for this particular tour of the back roads...until next time!

Tour of the Back Roads 5

It recently snowed a bit in the valley. Just a little bit, with the deepest spots boasting approximately 2 1/2-3 inches. But it was enough to freeze the valley, causing residents to drag out the gloves and hats again. Many fields pepper the valley; in the spring it's colourful and fresh, but in the winter, everything is brown...unless it snows, and then everything is white! For some reason, occasionally farmers (or the farm hands?) will allow the sprinklers to run even in the dead of winter. I'm not sure why, because it seems bad for the pipes to be pumping water through in freezing weather. The sprinkler heads coat with ice and then can't move. Whatever the reason, it happens, and when it does, it actually creates a beautiful sparkling field of ice. Such as the one pictured above. They are trees lining a field on the back roads, and they are completely covered in ice. Tomorrow we'll take a closer look and see what else this fantastic mistake has created.

Tour of the Back Roads 3

As we continue along our tour of the back roads of the WWV, our next stop is Valley Chapel Cemetery. With the snow on the ground, it's hard to tell how many graves actually fill this small place of memories and loved ones, but those headstones that rose above the ground numbered less than 20. Most of them marked graves that were between 100 and 120 years old, making this yet another pioneer cemetery. (See my previous post on Pioneer Cemetery on the outskirts of Milton-Freewater.) Tomorrow we'll take a look inside of the cemetery, at some of the very old gravestones laid with love and tears.

Tour of the Back Roads 2

This week we are touring the back country roads between MF and WW/CP. Yesterday was the beginning of the tour, so check yesterday's post for more information and the first stop. Today's stop is another typical scene along the back roads: livestock. This is a farming community, after all, and animals are crucial to successful farms. Perhaps not as much so as 100 years ago, but most farms still have at least a couple of horses, some cows, and perhaps chickens, goats, or sheep. This horse was huddled behind a large tree, procuring some shelter from the chilly winter breeze blowing snow all around the valley. Check back tomorrow for the next stop on our back roads tour.

Abandoned

This beautiful church building sits on the corner of Forth Street and Ash in College Place. I've always found this view of it to be attractive, but no shot has turned out as well as this one with the snow. It's a bit dark, but I like the newness of the snow contrasted with the run-down facade of the building itself. I'm not sure what this building used to be, but it has not been used since long before I moved to the valley in 2001. I really think if someone fixed it up - new paint, new support, good cleanup of the yard, etc. - it would be a beautiful meeting place. And it wouldn't necessarily have to be a church meeting place...it could be a student building, since it's so close to Walla Walla U. Just my humble opinion...