And here, finally, is this morning’s view of Cone Peak. Isn’t she lovely?

I’ve decided that raising a fire is about as attention-demanding as raising a puppy. Don’t get me wrong. I love, love, LOVE my wood stove. Never want to be without it, any more than I want to be without my dogs. But I have to tell you, I’ve done little else but take care of it the last few days. I started a fire on Thursday, and it hasn’t gone out, yet. Yes, it has been that cold up here. Freezing temps, which is kind of necessary to produce all the lovely snow. It’s a good thing for me that for some inexplicable reason, cutting wood is one of Rock Knocker’s favorite pastimes … right behind eating and you-know-what. Whenever he can, he just loves to cut wood. Fortunately for me, I have lots of downed dead oak limbs, from various wind storms, and some dead madrone, and sundry other available sources of joy for him. No live trees are ever harmed in pursuing his passion. He wouldn’t dare. He knows these Valley Oaks are my living relatives. Pine … not so much. But pine is not good for wood stoves. They serve only three purposes, as far as I can tell. One, lovely pinecones; two, nice smell; three, they go up like Roman candles in a wildfire.

And on a slightly different note: “The vernal equinox will occur 10:14 p.m. tonight, marking the start of spring. Ironically, the region experienced some of the most unsettled weather of the winter this weekend with widespread hail, heavy rain, gale force winds and reports of snow.” (This from my weatherman in San Luis Obispo.) I guess I will see my first Spring snow, a week after I saw my first Winter snow! He also had this to say: “Another cold front will pass the Central Coast on Saturday with rain and more unsettled weather. Rain will turn to showers on Sunday with snow levels dropping to about 3,000-feet.”

Okay, that’s today’s post. I may add a lovely photo of Cone Peak bathed in snow later, as the sun is shining, and I got a couple shots off while it is. I have a couple announcements, but soon, I will have to move them to the announcement page, as the number of requests I am getting is going up as tourist season approaches. Time to go feed the fire, again.