Oh how I hope the weatherman is right!

Snow in the Siskiyous

Charlie leaves Los Angeles today on the long drive north to Oysterville.  I think he’s starting a day before he had planned in order to miss the predicted snow in the Siskiyous.  If the weatherman can be trusted with his current forecast, it will not snow until Tuesday in Weed, California.  Weed is a city of some 2500 folks and is located in Siskiyou County just off I-5.

More than once, when I lived in Bay Area and made the trek north in winter, it was in Weed that I stopped to put chains on my trusty VW bug — though truth to tell,  that happened very seldom in comparison to cars without front wheel drive.  Sometimes there were kids out on the freeway earning money for school by offering to put your chains on for $5.00.  (Could it REALLY have been that cheap?) And at least once, when Charlie was a teenager, he had the unpleasant duty, himself — and I did take seriously my “motherly” role of worrying that he didn’t have gloves or a proper jacket.   Nowadays, we both watch the weather forecasts closely and hope for the best!

Chicken Coop in the Snow. 2008

On the other hand, I saw that “flurries” are predicted for Oysterville on Christmas Day and for a few days thereafter!  Oh!  I do so hope that’s the way it will be.  I think the last time it snowed in Oysterville when Charlie was here was in 2008!!!  I remember that he went out to the chickens with us early in the morning and was enchanted, as were we, with all the animal tracks in the snow.  It’s always an eye-opener to see how many forest and meadow creatures come calling at night leaving not a trace except when it snows!

Deer Prints

But for now — no tracks, no snow, and for a few minutes, anyway, no rain.  The lawn is still pretty squishy, though.  With some steps I feel like I might continue right down below the grassy surface.  But I don’t.  And should that happen, I trust that Willard’s words in Oysterville, Roads to Grandpa’s Village still hold true:  In an ordinary year, a hundred inches of rain fall on grandpa’s village; we have mutated until we breathe with comfort air that is half water or water that is half air.  

It would be nice to feel the crunch of snow on just one or two mornings this season…  Just one or two.

One Response to “Oh how I hope the weatherman is right!”

  1. Deborah L Wells says:

    We are staying home this winter – but will see my BF Bob on Christmas!! Debbie

Leave a Reply