Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! We’re wrapping up an eventful trip to Northern Arizona which had us briefly facing sleeping in our car in a blizzard (I-40 was closed) but gave us a short window (the freeway reopened for an hour) to make it here safely and spend the holiday with family. Add in some snow and some very cold temperatures, and it’s been a wonderful white Christmas for us.

This time of year I am always profoundly thankful for the many gifts in my life, good friends and dear family chief among them. I think also of those who serve in our armed forces, and the tremendous sacrifice they make on our behalf. I wish everyone a very happy holiday season, and for those away from home, a speed and safe return. As for the New Year, I’m looking forward to a busy 2010—especially winter. It’s time to start getting out there!

Happy holidays!

Santa Monica Pier celebrates its 100th anniversary tomorrow, September 9, 2009. The day will be packed with events, climaxing in a grand finale fireworks show at 8:50 p.m. There haven’t been fireworks at Santa Monica Pier in nearly twenty years, so this is a special treat indeed. Be aware that the whole day is likely to be one big zoo, especially when it comes to getting in and out of Santa Monica, and parking. I’m planning on biking in to see the fireworks, but even that could get challenging if enough people show up.

For those of you who didn’t go see 4th of July fireworks, first of all, shame on you! But here’s a video of the grand finale at Marina Del Rey I shot yesterday with my handicam. MDR puts on a great show every year. For a (relatively) small municipality, they sure know how to light up the sky. This is also one of the darkest skies in the LA Basin, so you don’t get too much interference from city lights. Just be creative in your parking if you go, or you’ll have a long haul home. Happy 4th of July!

Well, after last weekend’s adventure, I figured I’d take some time off from skiing the backcountry. Sue at ESAC reports impressively marginal conditions throughout the Sierra. Apparently the Sierra is on track to set its third driest January on record. Didn’t we just go through all of this a year ago?

Once again, we’re stuck with ice and a lot of bare mountains, while the continental skiers are enjoying high times. On the positive side, coverage in the SoCal mountains isn’t all that bad. You’ll just need to be very careful not to get caught on hard snow. As long as you can find aspects that soften in the sun, skiing could be enjoyable. Of course, we still have in-bounds options to keep the legs moving, and if that fails to appeal…there’s always the beach.

Seven days ago I watched the sun set from Mount San Antonio’s west summit. Tonight, a much lower (and warmer!) perch: Santa Monica Beach, looking out toward the pier.

With a bit of a heat spell picking up, temps have shot up, from 70’s at the coast to 80’s inland. Faced with such brutal weather, what is there to do but take the day off, hop on the bicycle, and cruise the strand along the beach?

We live about 3 1/2 miles away from the ocean, which is just far enough to forget it’s there. I never get tired of the feeling I get when I dart through downtown Santa Monica on my bicycle (a KHS Urban Extreme, if you’re wondering – nice bike, silly name) and the Pacific suddenly appears. Kind of like driving up Mountain Avenue and suddenly finding yourself in the wilderness of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Yes, perched precariously between mountains and sea, on days like this Los Angeles can seem like a little slice of paradise. Just stay away from the freeways, or the illusion is sure to be wrecked. And it doesn’t hurt to find yourself wandering about in shorts and a t-shirt while other poor souls are praying for the mercury to go up. Tomorrow’s forecast high temperature in Fargo, ND: -12°F. Yes, that’s minus 12!

What do you call the middle of February in Southern California? Spring.

Ah well…back to work tomorrow.