The five day arctic cold spell that dominated most of the intermountain west has come to an end. Our kids enjoyed the sunny skies and sledding, even though the daytime highs were around 15 degrees (Fahrenheit), and the nighttime lows were around -10 F. Our horse Money Pit looked woeful, with rings of frost around the eyes and a frosty chin each morning. The clear weather also provided some beautiful pinkish Alpenglühen on the peaks of The Unnamed Range of Mountains each evening, and some awe-inspiring golden glow at sunrise each morning–once with the full moon setting in the west right over a auric snowy peak.
The clear weather allowed us to make our semi-annual sojourn to COSTCO, where we did our best imitation of shoppers from the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. Seeing our big industrial flat cart heaped up with sacks of rice and cases of canned goods, a fellow shopper asked: “Do you have a restaurant?” I replied, “No, we have teenagers.”.
Now we are back to overcast, snow showers, and highs in the 30s, which is more typical for this time of year.