Just beautiful! I love looking at pictures like yours; appreciating the beauty of it all and maintaining my current body temperature without experiencing any of the cold.
I have never had a young person stop at my house during winter and ask if they could clear my sidewalks. I was just second nature in Wisconsin when I was growing up.
My wife who grew up with lake effect snow from Lake Erie could relate to this. Being a native Southern Californian I can only attest to once seeing snow flurries land on me while at school (2nd period high school PE outside in gym shorts no less). But we had Smog Days! Air so bad we weren’t allowed outside for recess in elementary school. Not quite the same joy.
Michael G: Having grown up near Huntington Beach, California -- I LOVE the beaches, including Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Balboa -- I traveled a lot into LA County, and in the '50s and '60s the smog was cloying. The worst day was in September 1965 with a temperature of 113 Degrees and thick, choking smog!
As a kid I lived one-half mile from the San Gabriel Mountains which rose up 8,000 feet from the valley floor behind our house. I remember days in the 1960’s and early 1970’s when those mountains weren’t visible at all from that distance.
Michael G.: Not visible at all from that distance is EXACTLY RIGHT.
I don't know how LA is now (I live in suburban Memphis near my grandkids), but smog SERIOUSLY limited what you saw, and much (like a building a couple blocks away) would emerge but be a ghostly image in the brown thicket of smog with but outlines of the building appearing.
In the 1950s (I was born in the late '40s), Orange County was largely rural with thousands of acres of orange groves, and it was very pretty.
Now, Mount Baldy was on our horizon. It probably took about an hour or hour-and-a-half to get there. But most days were smoggy enough that you didn't know you were surrounded by breathtaking, snow-capped mountains. But come September or so, a Santa Ana wind would bring in tumbleweed (from where??) and we FINALLY saw the magnificence of Mount Baldy!
I’m no longer in the LA area and haven’t been since 1982. The few times I’ve driven through, it’s sometimes bad, but not nearly as bad as the 1960’s smog.
Loved this Diane. Thank you 😊
Thanks, BmG!
Our 3 yo granddaughter enjoyed making a snow man in the yard!
Love your beautiful dog!
Thanks, Judith!
Just beautiful! I love looking at pictures like yours; appreciating the beauty of it all and maintaining my current body temperature without experiencing any of the cold.
Rita, I just talked to a friend in Florida who boasted of the 70 degree temperature there! 🤣
That would also be me! It’s 73 degrees right now. Supposed to be in the 30’s Sunday. I’ll be bundled up next to my space heater, lol.
Gotta go sledding!
I loved snow days as a child. I could make a little movie-money by shoveling for the neighbors!
My husband is from Michigan. He did that too!🥰
Funny that now no one takes that opportunity even though they could make big bucks!
I never see kids mowing lawns anymore. Not even neighbors with teens.
I have never had a young person stop at my house during winter and ask if they could clear my sidewalks. I was just second nature in Wisconsin when I was growing up.
Lovely memories, Diane. Thank you.
Thanks, Katharine!
Diane K24: Your prose is wonderful and speaks to me and your photos are b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l !! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Armand!
My wife who grew up with lake effect snow from Lake Erie could relate to this. Being a native Southern Californian I can only attest to once seeing snow flurries land on me while at school (2nd period high school PE outside in gym shorts no less). But we had Smog Days! Air so bad we weren’t allowed outside for recess in elementary school. Not quite the same joy.
Yes, ugh; smog days! My last day of 6th grade, the air was a dirty yellow 🤦🏻♀️.
And, we once had some snow in the San Fernando valley back in the mid 1960s. I have a photo of me and my brothers playing in it on the front lawn.🥰
Smog Days! Love it, Michael G!
Michael G: Having grown up near Huntington Beach, California -- I LOVE the beaches, including Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Balboa -- I traveled a lot into LA County, and in the '50s and '60s the smog was cloying. The worst day was in September 1965 with a temperature of 113 Degrees and thick, choking smog!
As a kid I lived one-half mile from the San Gabriel Mountains which rose up 8,000 feet from the valley floor behind our house. I remember days in the 1960’s and early 1970’s when those mountains weren’t visible at all from that distance.
Michael G.: Not visible at all from that distance is EXACTLY RIGHT.
I don't know how LA is now (I live in suburban Memphis near my grandkids), but smog SERIOUSLY limited what you saw, and much (like a building a couple blocks away) would emerge but be a ghostly image in the brown thicket of smog with but outlines of the building appearing.
In the 1950s (I was born in the late '40s), Orange County was largely rural with thousands of acres of orange groves, and it was very pretty.
Now, Mount Baldy was on our horizon. It probably took about an hour or hour-and-a-half to get there. But most days were smoggy enough that you didn't know you were surrounded by breathtaking, snow-capped mountains. But come September or so, a Santa Ana wind would bring in tumbleweed (from where??) and we FINALLY saw the magnificence of Mount Baldy!
I’m no longer in the LA area and haven’t been since 1982. The few times I’ve driven through, it’s sometimes bad, but not nearly as bad as the 1960’s smog.