The ski scene from Up On The Woof Top has come up in the comments recently. I like writing about anything to do with sports! (Three famous runs are mentioned in the book – Corbett’s, the Baldy Chutes, and the Pallavicini. In my skiing days I was never stupid enough to try the first two but I did somehow manage to get myself down the third which is much the easiest of the 3, at least on the route I clung to.) Here’s how the ski scene starts (narrated by Chet, a dog, true, but not a talking one):
We went inside. The only guy around was a bearded dude rubbing a yellowish waxy bar along the bottom of a ski, the smell very pleasant. Skiing made a good impression on me from the get-go.
7 Comments on “Skiing”
Good day to all.
A lot of snow in this area!! Pretty sure at least 5 inches and it’s all sticking.
Big Tiny: Wowzers! Is that the most snow you guys hav ever gotten?
For those concerned, I am in San Diego so a considerable distance from the fires raging in Los Angeles. I don’t know anyone who lives there so have no means of second hand knowledge other than what I see on the news, which honestly I have been avoiding.
Our air quality is normal as the winds don’t blow that way to bring the smoke down here. That’s not to say it’s good as tree pollen and mold are moderate and dust,dander is high. I’ll need to start Diana’s Benedryl soon and she’ll get a bath today or tomorrow with her medicated shampoo. Likely in an hour as that will be the high of 73 today.
I suspect all of our San Diego Humane shelters in the county are already taking in animals, pets, larger bovine, equine, etc and even wild animals injured in the fire or fire-related, such as hit by cars, caught in fences, etc. It’s what they do and they are the best in the state and tops in the nation. Helen Woodward will also be opening their doors. Both have a foster system but will likely be calling for more. With both Diana and Freyja I’m not sure I can take in any fosters but I will be pondering it.
President Carter’s funeral touched me. As one raised in the south, in the church, married to a military man, I had much in common with him. But I could never boast of anywhere near his integrity, intelligence, and faith in action. He was, indeed, a very good man.
Wouldn’t it be great if some of that Northeastern snow could fall on LA?
It paints such a vivid picture that Chet has ‘first impressions’. I agree with him, too. Snow skiing is awesome!
WTAFP! It’s the most since Mom and I moved here. And it has stayed all day long. Possibility of more tonight but should be done early tomorrow and most melted by tomorrow night. It was very pretty.
So tragic about the LA fires. The devastation is heartbreaking.
I thought Lawrence O’Donnell described it very well, a hurricane without the rain. It’s wind and wind isn’t given enough credit for how destructive it is. The Santa Anas come from the dessert and are very dry. In the summer it gets out temps up into the 90s and triple digits and can dry everything out quickly. If you don’t water, sometimes more than once a day, plants dry out and die. In the winter it is responsible for a mild but dry winter. Since we mostly get our rain in the winter it is also responsible for our droughts. And now, due to Climate Change, our fire season lasts all year long. There have been some very destructive fires during my lifetime but this is the first time there as been major devastation in such a heavily populated urban area. Northern California and eastern Southern California are towns, not cities. Los Angeles is densely populated and has areas of open space where there are trees and scrub for fuel. There is a lot of wildlife in the area in these pockets of open space, so I’m not just thinking about the horses, goats, cows, pigs, chickens and all of the pets but also the birds, the rabbits, squirrels, opossums, coyotes, mountain lions, even the lizards. There is also the loss of history to all of us. The loss of family homes and the “stuff” of memories is devastating to each of those individuals but it is the loss of our collective histories in the form of buildings and their contents that will effect all of us.
Will Rogers Ranch House
The Bunny Museum
Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center
Masjid Al Taqwa
Rosenthal Wineries Wine bar and grill
Topanga Ranch Motel, once owned by William Randolph Hearst and built a century ago.
Theater Palisades
Altadena Hardware, 1916
Altadena Community Church, 80 years old
Altadena Senior Center
Palisades Charter High School, used in Carrie, Freaky Friday and Project X. 70% of the campus remains according to a letter from the principal. They’re going to reopen next week.
Fox’s Restaurant, 1950s
Moonshadows Malibu
Reel Inn Malibu
The McNally House, Andrew McNally of Rand McNally. A Queen Ann Victorian.
Portions of Christmas Tree Lane
Thankfully the Getty Villa took precautions and not only has cleared brush previously but has a state of the art sprinkler system. They lost some landscaping but the building and the collection are safe.
The Hollywood sign and Griffith Park observatory are so far fine.
Nearly 2,000 structures burned.
In many ways this was worse than a “hurricane without rain”. At least meteorologists can predict hurricanes and even tornadoes. But like an earthquake, a fire like this happens suddenly and you can’t prepare for it other than the usual keeping brush down, landscaping that doesn’t feed the flames, avoiding flameable construction materials like cedar shake roofs and siding. It also isn’t over in less than a minute like an earthquake and there is no limit to the ground it can cover.
We get Santa Anas every year but they don’t always come with fire. When they do, you can’t stop them any more than you can stop a hurricane, a tornado or an earthquake.
For those wishing to help Pasadena Humane society from afar, there is a donation link from this page:
pasadenahumane dot org slash eaton-canyon-fire-update