Braving the Elements

We've had, for the most part, a rather mild Central Oregon winter. I have been snowed out of Portland moreso than I've been snowed-in this year in Bend. That's a first. As of a few days ago, we had enough rain with the warmer temperatures that the snow seemed to be an almost distant memory, and my thoughts were shifting from indoor treadmill to outdoor freedom.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to nothing but the white stuff (we're talking snow here) falling from the sky and apparently, it had been falling all night long. Snow was everywhere - on the trees, on the rooftops, and it completely blanketed the ground, where it looked pretty deep. There went my dream of hiking along new trails in the very near future. It's now back to Winter, snow shovels and snow shoes. Is it ever going to stop, or am I just destined to live wrapped up a parka looking a bit like the Michelin Man until June?

While the new-found twist in the Arctic weather is rather tragic for my running endeavors, it is all fun and games for some members of the household, namely the dogs, who love going out for a lunch-time romp to break through the new snow, not to mention the needed break I get in the middle of the workday.

As you can see, like mother/like son with the header's in the snow. He doesn't seem to be phased too much by it. My shoulder, on the other hand, has yet to make a full recovery.

Between my injuries and the snowy weather, this down-time is giving me the opportunity to do a little R&D on all of the events we can participate in once the latest deep freeze melts and we can actually see the ground again. Gives us something to look forward to. Until then I will just have to live off of my fat reserves and hope for a quick defrost.