Snow and shopping

It snowed here a few days ago, first time in 6 years that Ridgecrest had measurable snow. When the boys got up from their nap I pointed out the window at it and they were absolutely astonished. We went outside and I taught them how to make and throw a snowball, but since they don't have mittens they got cold pretty quickly and we went inside again. The next morning it was gone.

But the mountains! Ridgecrest is surrounded by 4 mountain ranges. The really dramatic mountains, the Sierra Nevada, are to the west of us. North are the Cosos, east are the Argus Range, and west are the El Paso Mountains. The day after the snowfall the Sierras were just breathtaking, but so were the Cosos, which I don't usually pay a lot of attention to. Even the Argus and the El Pasos had snow on them. Today, 4 days after the snow, the mountains still look amazing. Stunning, even.

But beyond Ridgecrest's boundaries things are even more amazing. Yesterday we drove the 90 miles to Palmdale to kill some time, get out of town, do a little shopping, although I find that I never do much shopping under these circumstances. I am the sort of shopper who likes to drop by a store every few days, look around, buy one little thing, come back a few days later, buy one more little thing. I'm happy to go to the grocery store every day, or even twice a day. I don't like to do huge shoppings. I like to have relationships with stores. So even now, when I know I won't be back for a few weeks at least, I can't force myself. I walk through stores and I think, "I don't need that immediately." "I might need that in a week or two, but not now."And then I get home and I think, "what was my problem? Now I'm going to have to order it!"

Anyway, the 90 mile trip to Palmdale is sort of a boring drive, but the 90 mile trip back is very scenic. Lots more mountains are visible when you're heading east rather than west. And what might those mountains be? Well, I'm not sure. At one point it's definitely the Tehachapis, and then later I think it's the Piute Mountains, and of course the Sierras can be seen. All covered with snow this week, which outlines them, reveals the drama usually hidden behind their dull brown exteriors. Oh they are just gorgeous. Stunning, awe-inspiring, magnificent. You just run out of words. Oh my gosh, I say, trying not to swear in front of the babies, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, as each new vista presents itself for viewing. We got home just as the sun was setting, and as you go north on 395 just before Ridgecrest you get this fabulous view of the snow-covered Sierras, or whatever the heck mountains you're looking at right there, I don't care what they are, they're incredible, and the clouds streaked with pink in this absolutely enormous sky that we've got here. I don't know how anyone manages to drive safely with that kind of show going on outside the car. A day later I'm sitting at my computer in my dim messy office, looking east but all I can see is the next-door neighbor's house and a bit of sky, and I still can't get over what we saw yesterday.

I just can't get over the fact that I live in such an awful place and yet it has such celestial beauty.