It has been a nice quiet birthday. It started off like Christmas. During the night the birthday elves snuck into the bedroom and left a birthday gift on the chair. When I woke up there it was: a new, very thick, very warm robe fabrique in Turkei as they say. 100% cotton, and really comfortable. I took the day off of work, largely, dealing only with a matter of some urgency. For dinner we had the much awaited hamburger ala Hemmingway, which was full of ingredients and quite tasty. As an apertif, a freshly baked roll, still hot enough to melt butter quickly was served. I never get enough of freshly baked breads, and would probably eat way too much of it were I not careful. I am known for my great self-disipline, of course, and besides Mary Alice took the rest of the rolls away. It was raining when i woke up, and it is raining now. Its been coming down steadily in need-your-umbrella intensity for most of the last 24 hours. I had a feeling this might happen, and emptied the rain gauges a couple of days ago. They hold 5 and were over 3 from earlier rains. I try not to empty them during a series of rains, feeling that the cumulative total will help eliminate approximation errors. We had something like 1.15 over last night, and Im thinking we might have another 2 by tomorrow morning. If so this will have been the most intense rain of the season. In the past we have have had 4 and 5 inch days, but certainly not this year. Our seasonal totals are approaching 50% of the total amount we have in a dry year, and were lucky to be getting that far up the scale. Last night the Eel River at Fort Seward, our nearest guage, was at the 11 mark, flowing at about 3000 cfs. Very good for this winter. Tonight it is at the 19 foot mark, flowing at 20,300 cfs. Flood stage is 70, and during a normal winter we will approach that at times, with flows of 200,000 cfs - or about 10 times the amount we are having now. Still, this is the best flow of the season, and were glad to see it. If I might go old codger on you for a minute, let me tell you that in preparation for my trip to Truckee, I have been looking at live web cams of traffic and snow conditions on I-80 at the summit (about 7000 feet) and in the town of Truckee, and checking will NOAA for the updated forecast for Truckee, and CalTrans for highway conditions, all without leaving the desk. It really makes me wonder how people had the courage to drive off into the unknown conditions in those years before the internet. Really, kids, you have no idea what life was like pre-internet. Sleep remains much the same, however, and Im going to find some of it now. Ill let you know how things are in Truckee tomorrow. And good news for those following behind me in age: 74 is quite like 73 only it looks more impressive on paper. Good night, friends.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 06:53:21 +0000
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