Snow Fun With Craig, Jodie and Tyler
On their lot, Sunday February 11, 2001

(Posted the same day, © Herbert E. Lindberg)

Craig and Jodie couldn't have come up on a better weekend to play in the snow. They drove up Saturday afternoon and arrived about 4 p.m., in time for a relaxing drink and then a wonderful taco casserole that Mary had prepared before she had her left foot operated on to correct a severely broken second toe (broken many years ago, several times, on the stupid legs of our old bed in Sunnyvale) and a nearly debilitating bunion on the large toe.

But I digress. Saturday morning we had snow here in lake wildwood. Below is a picture I snapped from our deck at about 8:30 in the morning. By 9:30 it had turned to rain, then snow again at 10:30 and finally rain to wash everything away. Meanwhile, it was snowing in Grass Valley and Nevada City the entire time, following snow on Thursday and Friday.

Snow at LWW Lindberg home, Saturday morning February 10, 2001.

Sunday morning Craig, Jodie, Tyler and I put on our snow clothes (in my case, simply my hiking shoes and heavy jacket) and were off to have some fun in the snow. We had no idea how much or little snow there was in Nevada City so we stopped in Grass Valley to buy chains for my Expedition in case we had to continue on to the high country along Route 80. When we proceeded to Craig and Jodie's lot a mile west of Nevada City it was clear we would have to travel no farther. In fact, we had to park at the base of American Hill Road (which wraps around their lot) and walk the rest of the way. Below is a picture I snapped to show how completely the snow enveloped the area around Craig and Jodie's lot.

Craig's next door neighbor's house in Nevada City.

Lower (water well) entrance to Craig and Jodie's lot.

When we walked onto their lot we made a quick measurement of the snow depth by plunging our arms into the snow until our fingers touched bottom -- 16 inches! The above two pictures also give you a feel for the depth of the snow. By the time old Grandpa Lindberg could plow his way up and onto the lot (5 acres, by the way), Craig had taken their sled and rode it down the hill to form a sled run. When I got to the top of the run Tyler had already plowed his way to the bottom and was up to his crotch in the field of snow.

Tyler in open field at bottom of Craig's sled run.

While Craig and Tyler were at the bottom of the sled run making a snow man, Jodie and I were at the top of the run making two more. Jodie said this was the first time she was ever able to make snowman balls by rolling them around to gather more snow. The snow was heavy and wet so it didn't take long to have a huge ball. Craig's snowman was most complete, as you can see below.


Craig, Tyler and Jodie with one of three snowmen we made.

Before I could complete my snowman it was time to go to the bottom of the sled run and take pictures of sledding action.

Craig and Tyler zooming down the sled run.

Closer view of Craig and Tyler on their next sled run.

After several runs, each extending the run closer to Craig's snowman, it was clear to Craig that it was time to do Tyler's most favorite thing -- destroy! So on their next run (above) they just blasted through the snowman. In the picture below you can see some of the remains of the snowman on top of the sled. By the time I could get my camera into position whatever had remained of the snowman was gone and Craig was helping Tyler with his destruction by lifting him up like a pile drive and stomping him down on poor old Mr. Snowman.

Craig helping Tyler stomp Mr. Snowman.

Craig and Tyler were having so much fun that Jodie had to give it a try. In the picture below she's having lots of fun, but you'll notice that she's out of the run groove. That's because she had her feet out to keep her from getting any speed. Just like me when I go cross country skiing -- I love it except for any downhill on which I pick up speed.

Jody tries her skill coming down the sled run.

When Craig saw this he said, "Let's go down together." The result:

Jodie went down a lot faster with Craig at the helm.

Craig on one of his many trips up the hill with Tyler.

When we were about to head home it started snowing again. Big, heavy flakes, and lots of them. The snow was accumulating fast by the time we got back to the car and I was glad to be on our way. We had to keep going in the same direction we came in, because I couldn't turn around in the snowbanks on each side of the now one-way road. I was glad to get back to highway 49 above Nevada City, and then back down the hill to the Highway 49/20 freeway. When we got there, three snow plows were cleaning up the new snow as we (and everyone else) drove behind them at 30 mph. It continued to snow until well after we'd turned off onto Highway 20 to Lake Wildwood. Some time before the bottom of the hill the snow turned to a light rain and the color came back to my knuckles.

Mary had to stay home with her recuperating foot.
She took the opportunity to listen to her operas on our stereo.

Family Hub - - - Home Page Top