The Many Moods of Lake Osoyoos

 

A lot of my time, on our holiday in Oroville, is spent simply soaking in the beauty that is spread out before us. It is ever changing, ever beautiful. Day to day, hour to hour, there was constant change this year. A clear sunny sky can get mundane after a while.

 

Desert rain seems to come in two varieties, torrential downpour or gentle showers. We had both, but only for one 24 hr. period. It was welcome after three days of oppressive heat that would only cool by two degrees at night.

 

Surprisingly, for the uninitiated, some of the best colour in the skies comes at sunset and is displayed in the east. Not one photo is this post is a sunrise, but all photos are pointing east or north.

 

 

 

This was a particularly eerie evening as the sky overhead was dark with storm clouds and then in the north, over Osoyoos, came a white glow from clearing northern skies.

 

Looking south at sunset.

 

And north at sunset. If we look west at sunset there is a very large and close steep mountain that totally blocks the view.

 

Ever changing and more beautiful by the minute.

 

Looking northeast we often see clouds like this, resembling the billowing smoke of a forest fire over the ridge.

 

We do not get clouds like this at home, in combination with crystal clear air. Ever changing and ever beautiful, I come home with way too many cloud pictures, but no two are the same. Please look at them large and you will get a feel for what it is like to spend a day sky gazing in Oroville.

A Cold and Windy Day Part 2

 

After being housebound for most of last week with a bad head cold, it was great to get outside again, even though it was bitterly cold. I was dressed warmly enough and even managed to expose my hands a few times to take a few photos. These are Euphorbia plants, a nice green just in time for St. Patrick's day.

 

The tide was on its way out, and whitecaps were pretty. For a sunny day in White Rock, people were staying away in droves. It was more or less abandoned. Even the restaurants were empty.

 

The beach that beckons in summer, repels in winter.

 

Could one ever go to White Rock and not photograph the white rock? It was fairly glowing in the brilliant sunshine this day.

 

The guard bear stands watch.

 

Rebellious me crawled onto the railway tracks for this worm's eye view when I saw the sign "Stay Off The Tracks" Had I not flattened myself to the old railway ties at the last second, the train would have crushed me like a peanut. As it was, only the shirt on my back was ripped off. Well, that is what the sign is all about, is it not? I suppose some people are too stupid to stay off the tracks when the train is coming so they have to put up the sign. Probably to avoid law suits because when someone is drunk they will not see or heed the sign anyway.

 

We then drove further west and a bit north to Crescent Beach and it was even worse there, for wind and cold. The bay was so churned up that as you can see, it is thick with mud. Well, we did get some sun and some Vitamin D but I hope not a relapse of the cold I just got rid of.

A Windy and Cold Day Part 1

 

Checking the weather map in the morning, we decided that heading west and south was our best bet for finding some sunshine yesterday.

 

Knowing from experience that there is always a wind chill factor at White Rock, we brought a variety of jackets, vests, hats, gloves, and other diverse clothing layers.

 

The wind was fierce and bitterly cold but we bundled up and hoped that the brilliant sunshine and the fact that it is mid-March would somehow make the promenade walk bearable.

 

We walked the street, where it is more sheltered, all the way west and then with the wind at our backs and pushing us so hard we had to apply the brakes, we walked along the water on the way back.

 

The whitecaps were beautiful in the sun and it was a glorious day, but for the cold.

A Cold Blast From the Past

 

The year is 1978 and the location is north of Grande Prairie in northern Alberta. That Subaru was my transportation and it was not built for cold weather. With its very small 4 cylinder horizontally opposed engine, there was not enough heat generated to operate the engine, let alone heat the interior of the car. Did I mention it was -52? It was the coldest temperature I had ever experienced.

I was to leave for home the next day and we took the battery inside overnight to keep it warm and charged. It was not enough because the oil was gelled from the cold and the engine would not turn over, even in the closed garage.  We then put a lit camp stove under the oil pan, and after another hour or two we got it started. It was sluggish and powerless all the way to Hinton Alberta where the temperature suddenly warmed up from a Chinook wind. It was only another few miles down the road when the car literally jumped under the gas pedal and I was 'out of the woods'. When I got home I installed a core heater, which I never needed or used.

Subaru was one of the first front wheel drive cars imported to Canada. It was a great car and served me well for about 10 years.

As you can tell, I have been digging in the archives.

March Snow

 

 

Yesterday, Sunday Mar 2, we went for a walk in the snow.

 

Will it be the last snow of the year?