Tag Archives: weather

Dec18

First Washington Now Winnipeg

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First Washington Now Winnipeg

This morning I wandered down to the tianguis on my street. It was a tad chilly, a mere 60 degrees. But the sun was shining brightly. And I’ve gotten used to seeing Mexicans wearing ski jackets and scarves in this weather. Lots of hats and gloves too. Me? A short-sleeve top instead of a tank top.

Washington was hit with a second atmospheric river. Once again the wind toppled trees and downed power lines. Lots of evacuations on the west side. And now there are blizzard and heavy snowfall warnings out across the state.

Winnipeg is completely shut down today as a massive blizzard attacked the city and the surrounding areas. Glad I’m not there either, although I do recall blizzards in the past when I braved those Winnipeg winters in my younger days. The good thing about a Winnipeg blizzard is that it blows in and blows out fairly quickly. While it does cripple the city, plows are usually able to clean things up fast. And the highways are not destroyed as is the case in Washington.

Highway 2 west of Leavenworth is closed. That is huge! Not only is this the most direct route to Seattle, it is also one of two main mountain passes between Leavenworth and Seattle. Landslides, mudslides and flooding have taken their toll. A fifty mile stretch of highway no longer exists. Barring any more inclement weather, it is predicted that repairs will be complete and the highway passable hopefully by the end of February.

The only other option is Blewett-Snoqualmie, a more scenic but less direct route also notorious for harsh winter weather. Delays are already all too common and now it will definitely take much longer to travel to Seattle with the increased traffic on this route.

I’m thankful that I’m here in Mexico, although I admit I do occasionally dream of a white Christmas.

Dec11

This Is More Than Scary

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This Is More Than Scary

There is an emergency alert statewide. No. Not here in Mexico. In Washington State. I’ve been following the news and seen some really devastating photos. Landslides, mudslides, flooding, downed trees, downed power lines. Everywhere!

My friends in Leavenworth have been warned to stay home and stay off the roads. Wicked winds have felled trees and power lines. They have also been without power for more than twenty-four hours. The power outage extends to Peshastin. Blackbird Island has been flooded. Icicle Road and East Leavenworth Road are flooded and closed.

It’s mindboggling to think that trees that are hundreds of years old have crushed homes and that winds have torn off roofs. I thought only tornados do that.

Cashmere is also flooding. The river is rising and the waves are almost lapping up onto the bridge. It’s predicted to rise another three feet. Sandbagging is underway. A Red Cross station is being set up.

Landslides and torrential rain have caused extensive damage in Snoqualmie Pass and there is not talk of it reopening anytime soon. US 2 over Stevens Pass is also closed. Bad news for anyone headed to Seattle.

Please keep Washington in your prayers.

Oct19

Last Post From Washington in 2025

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Last Post From Washington in 2025

I love fall. It’s my favorite season. The trees are in all their glory. The snow glistens high up on the mountaintops. But it’s also bittersweet as my time here has once again come to an end for this year. Washington is such a beautiful state. Every time I return I am in awe of the beauty; the views that most Washingtonians take for granted.

The past few days have been a blur of goodbyes with friends as well as last lunches and dinners together. Thursday was my last Life Group for a while. Yesterday was one last movie at Gateway. And this morning was one last church service here in East Wenatchee.

This afternoon the sun is shining brightly outside although the temperature has dropped. I have a Lifetime movie on in the background while I pack. But at the moment I’m taking a break to write this post.

I received a message from my daughter in Canada. She is into Powerlifting and tomorrow she is off to Panama to compete in the Internationals. Very exciting! I hope to watch her online as I’ve done before. Maybe someday I’ll get to watch her in person.

I fly out of Pangborn on Tuesday. Three flights and a bus trip and I’ll be home in Aguascalientes.

But the packing cubes are calling. My next post will be from Mexico.

Saludos!

Oct14

Countdown Continues

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Countdown Continues

A week from today at this time I’ll be somewhere up in the air between Seattle and Los Angeles. The days between now and then are full. Actually, all my days are full. I wonder where I ever found the time to raise kids, work and volunteer before I retired.

This morning I went to Soul Sisters at church. No Zoom for this Bible Study so it will be by snail mail email. I told everyone they get their goodbye hugs at church this Sunday.

I spent two hours organizing and backing up the pics on my laptop. Then I downloaded more from my phone and backed those up. I really need to do this more regularly. Then it won’t be such a tedious undertaking.

Tomorrow morning is my last writers group meeting until next year. This group has been a great source of support and encouragement. Once again, no Zoom. But we can email files to each other and keep in touch by phone. I will miss our lunches together after the meetings. This is an opportunity to converse and get to know each other better other than just by our writing styles.

On Thursday it will be my last small group for a while. We share a meal together before delving into a Bible Study. And the fellowship after is most enjoyable. It’s always a late night and I am quite content to sleep in on Friday morning.

I’m not sure what’s happening on Friday. Joanne and I haven’t decided yet. All I know at this point is that it won’t involve volunteering lol. When Joanne asked me what I want to do I told her I want to go to Cashmere and never leave. If only that truly were a possibility!

I had an interesting email from the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. A warning about flooding and landslides in central Mexico. Hmmm. I decided not to fly in on the coast because of the current hurricane activity. Hopefully Guadalajara stays high and dry.

We’ve actually had some rain here in East Wenatchee. And there is snow up in the mountains. So I know it is time for me to leave. The temperatures have dropped and I’ve been layering and bundling up. I have plans for the weekend so I hope it doesn’t get too cold.

“Procrastination is the thief of time.” Charles Dickens.

I better get back to sorting through documents.

Sep29

More Ash And Smoke

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More Ash And Smoke

With the air quality alerts we’ve had recently, I’ve been finding more things to do inside. I’ve been reading and writing more. And I’ve been watching more TV. I know. I should be sorting through documents and clothes in preparation for my trip to Mexico next month. I should be contemplating that last venture to Bath and Body as well as Walmart. I should be hunting for my 2026 Kinkade calendar. But I’m procrastinating.

Went to the theater on Saturday to see Eleanor The Great. Enjoyed the movie but not all the ash that had settled on the car in the parking lot. As always, the pastor delivered a great sermon on Sunday. Then we all descended to the lower level of the church for the chili cook-off. Fellowship and food. And I got to show off a photo of my granddaughter Madeline that my daughter sent me that morning.

Monday is my stay at home day. Laundry. Ugh! Not my favorite indoor activity. In the afternoon I had my Bible Study on Zoom. A great way to stay in touch with friends when it isn’t possible to meet in person. Then I finished off a module in a course I’m taking online.

Coming up indoors this week are writers group, book club, small group and lunches with friends. Possibly a hike through Costco, LOL. I’d rather be out on the loop.

The weatherman keeps threatening rain. Hmmmm. Hopefully, but no lightning please. There are enough wildfires burning all around us. One of them is limping towards Wenatchee. That’s getting a little too close for comfort.

Please keep praying for all the firefighters and the people who have been evacuated.

Sep14

Thicker Than Smoke

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Thicker Than Smoke

It rained this morning. It’s a cloudy day. Smoke has rolled in from the wildfires surrounding East Wenatchee. But the air is charged with something far more potent. And it has felt that way since I arrived in May. It’s very different than the usual, and everyone is commenting on it.

The atmosphere here is tense and emotionally charged. And not in a good way. Uncertainty. Unsureness. Doubt. Ambiguity. Discontent. Vagueness. Anxiety. Fear. These are just some of the words people are using to describe it.

School has been in session for only a couple of weeks. There have already been lockdowns due to suspicious persons roaming nearby. Other states have already reported shootings. When I was in school it was accepted that the teacher was always right. By the time my kids were in school it had changed. The parents were always right, not the teachers. Today it seems like it has shifted again. The kids feel entitled and they are the ones who are always right. Unfortunately that only leads to more violence.

And then there was the assassination of Charlie Kirk this past week. Freedom of Speech is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Just because you may not agree with the words of a speaker does not give you the right to kill him. This shouldn’t be a matter of Republican versus Democrat. This is man’s inhumanity to man we’re talking about . And Kirk’s murder was a senseless and horrible tragedy.

This morning at church the sermon was about the importance of prayer and forgiveness. If there were more of that our world wouldn’t be in such a mess right now. That’s right. The entire world. It doesn’t matter what country you live in.

And while we’re on the topic of church, I never cease to be amazed by the men who walk into church with a Bible in one hand and a gun in a holster on their hip. Or the women who carry guns in their purses. The church I attend now is a smaller one and I haven’t noticed it here, but when I went to some of the more mega-sized churches it was definitely noticeable. Of course I’ve also had the experience of being locked inside a Christian church in Mexico once the service began. All in the name of security. And scary.

That’s it for doom and gloom. I pray that this coming week is a peaceful one for everyone.

Sep2

When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

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When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

It’s time to go back to Plan A, second time around. Or maybe it’s third or fourth time around. I’m really not sure. But I’ll have to see if this Plan A works out.

I had hoped to publish two books this summer. But it looks like it will be next spring. Far too complicated to publish in Canada while I’m still in the USA or in Mexico. And I’ve decided to go straight back to Mexico next month instead of taking any side trips to Canada.

And that’s okay. The third book in the trilogy will be ready to publish in the spring.

I did an interesting workshop online the other day. It was all about choosing titles for books. Right now I have a title carved in stone for the first book of the trilogy. Now I have some new ideas to toss around for the second and third books.

It’s September and the kids are all back in school. School Year’s Eve is over. And that date varied from state to state. Actually the term School Year’s Eve was a new one for me. I guess I watched too many TV commercials this year. That term was never around when I was a child nor when my kids were school-age.

It’s September and temperatures in the 100s are still in the forecast for this week. I hope I’ll still be around to see the leaves change color. Fall has become my favorite season.

Talk about plans changing……………..booking flights today was on my radar but Alaska’s website appears to have the flu today, or maybe it’s that new strain of Covid. Whatever. Or maybe someone up there doesn’t want me to book flights. Hmmmmm.

And now I’ll turn to a different type of writing. I need to make some notes to be read at book club later this week.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Aug29

Not So Typical

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Not So Typical

While this past week has been a busy one, it has also been not so typical. But I’ll start with the weather. Way too hot and way too muggy. It started early this year and looks like it’s still going to be around for a while. No rain in sight, not around here. But last night there were quite a few lightning strikes in other parts of the state that triggered wildfires.

The USA had issued a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory a couple of weeks ago to certain states in Mexico, one of them being Sinaloa. It looks like this will be the second winter in a row that I will be unable to visit with my Mexican family in Culiacan due to all the cartel activity and violence. And I fear for the safety of my five nietos.

Here in Washington I met a woman when I was doing volunteer work. She is currently going through an ugly divorce and has decided to change her name. Okay, I get that. Once I’m legally divorced I also might do that. But I doubt that I’d turn it into a three day reclaiming celebration involving wineries and parties. And there’s also the matter of the invitation to attend the official hearing at the Court House in Wenatchee. Nope. That’s a little too bizarre, even for me.

Last night I heard from a long lost friend in Mazatlan asking me to transfer money to her Mexican bank account. When I lived in Mazatlan I had helped her out before with a few pesos from time to time. After all, we used to bake some awesome brownies together back then.

Here’s another not so typical. Linda and I went to Costco earlier in the week and I didn’t buy a single thing. No groceries. No clothes. Not even a hot dog. Very unusual.

I was sitting sipping coffee out on the patio at Weeds in Cashmere yesterday when I struck up a conversation with two women from Quincy. They had a beautiful, exceptionally well-behaved dog with them. I’d love to have a dog again. But then there is the matter of my constant travels between countries that pretty much rules out pet ownership.

The other day I went out to Lake Chelan with a friend from my writing group. Donna had grown up there decades ago and it was interesting seeing this area through her eyes. So many changes. Buildings torn down. High volume of tourist traffic. A street of condominiums where her grandparents’ house had once stood. Her childhood home gone. A very different view from the Lake Chelan that I’ve come to know in the past few years.

And now it’s Friday. I wonder if this will be a not so typical weekend too.

Jul31

Tsunami. Flash Flood. Cinnamon Buns. Gnomes. Costco. Yale.

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Tsunami. Flash Flood. Cinnamon Buns. Gnomes. Costco. Yale.

The week began with tsunami warnings for the coastal areas in Washington State. Flash flood warnings for the northern Cascades. Heavy rainfall in the northern part of the state. Hence the flash flood warnings. Hopefully no thunder boomers. Lightning tends to hit trees and start wildfires.

Tuesday morning. Stopped in at the Sure to Rise Bakery in Cashmere for a cinnamon bun. Strode down to the Spirit of America 9/11 Memorial for some quiet contemplation.

Gnomes. Cashmere is known for its gnomes. Pick up a brochure at the visitor center and go on a hunt for these creatures. I actually did that once. Now I just glance at them along with their cute little homes.

Did I say gnomes homes? On Tuesday afternoon I volunteered at a program at the library where I fired a glue gun for a couple of hours. Kids eagerly built homes for gnomes. This is an annual activity at the library that is always so well attended. There was an abundance of craft materials ranging from birchbark to feathers and everything in between. And these kids are all so creative!

I did it again. I signed up yesterday for another online course from Yale University. Psychology this time. The videos this week are all about the brain. Interesting and at the same time a little scary.

Extremely hot and muggy here in East Wenatchee. Rain early this morning. So far just isolated drizzle this afternoon. And the 90 plus degree heat wave is forecast to continue for another few days.

On a cloudy and gloomy afternoon it’s a good day to go out for lunch and then cruise through Costco. So we did. Fall clothes and Halloween decorations have no appeal to me, not where I go in October. But I do enjoy browsing. It brings back fond memories of when my kids and I used to decorate our house for Halloween.

Bye Bye July!

Jul15

July

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July

“Be yourself; everyone else is taken.”

That’s one of my mantras, for both living and writing. So here goes….

So far it’s been a good month. I haven’t had any alerts blaring at me on my phone about wildfires or child abductions. And the month is halfway over.

Of course that doesn’t stop me from reading about wildfires in other areas of the state. And then there are the devastating flash floods and the vicious tornados attacking several states in the south, the Midwest and the east coast.

Aside from the high temperatures, it’s been pretty tranquil around here. Later this week I’ll be in Leavenworth up in the amphitheater enjoying another excellent production of The Sound of Music by Leavenworth Summer Theater. This is always one of the highlights of my summers here. And I’m thankful that it isn’t smokey this year. My stock of I-95s is still tucked away in my closet.

I’m planning on going up to Winthrop in a couple of weeks barring any wildfires. It’s a small town known for its Old West theme, including wooden boardwalks and saloon-style buildings. Quite a contrast to the amphitheater or the Bavarian Village of Leavenworth.

Pangborn Airport is slated to get new runways and will be closed for about a month beginning in September. I sure hope it will reopen by the time I need to fly back to Mexico in October. TSA at Sea-Tac is no fun.

Dead Dog In The Freezer. That’s the title of the piece I’ll be reading at writers group tomorrow.

What has an eye but cannot see? A needle.

Time to end this post. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day.