Frigid Beauty

This winter has been odd for our area. First torrential rains... not just our usual winter precipitation, we don't mind that. We do live in the Olympic Rainforest - rain is expected... but not the 6" more than the usual accumulation we received in November.

Now it's December, and boy, is it cold! Many people don't remember this kind of cold - I know I don't. We've been below freezing for more than a week, often in the single digits. Now, the Hood Canal (a salt water body) has frozen! It's surreal to myself and others who live in an area purported to be "mild," albeit... wet (and consequently, green).

Today, I watch a seagull slip across the ice when it landed by an iced-in sailboat. A crust of ice crossed nearly the entire span of the Hood Canal, between Union and Tahuya, with only a small sliver of flowing surface at the center-most point.

Another notable event locally came in the form of odd happenings at a historic waterwheel... it even made the regional news!

The Dalby Waterwheel frozen immobile. The waterwheel was originally installed by Ed and Ethel Dalby in 1924. It was relocated and restored at another location in 2006.


Keep in mind that none of this is snow - it's been dry during this entire cold snap. Sunlight rarely or only briefly touches many areas due to the abundance of old growth firs, pines and cedars, and the reach of shadows from hills and the Olympic Mountain Range.

We're expecting warmer temperatures soon... and at least 10 days of rain (sigh) - so this unusual event will soon only be a memory, captured in few frantically shot pictures.