January 2022

Sorry for a bit of delay folks, but I had wanted to post another blog before embarking on this.  From December 19 to January 13 we were away in the Antarctic.  (Same old, same old, what can I say?)

(This has also been updated February 4 to correct some egregious spelling/style/picture mistakes....)

You can see the description at themalloysatlarge.blogspot.com

To summarize, it was a fabulous trip, worth it in every way.  It also provided us a welcome break from the routine around here, and protected us from Covid more than we could have expected at home.

We arrived back in Kelowna after numerous airports and hours of travel, having passed 7 Covid PCR tests and 2 antigen tests during the trip.  We won’t complain about the precautions, but they added a number of hours of waiting and considerable uncertainty.  Fortunately, all turned out well.

We were fortunate in neighbours who plowed our driveway and checked our house during our absence.  Go figure—while we were gone in the Antarctic summer Osoyoos experienced a week of considerably belower-than-normal temperatures, and two major snow dumps of 12” each.  We were in warmer temperatures with less snow.  Obviously going south is still the best answer.

A neighbour posted a great photo of our house while we were gone.

Upon our return, there has been little snow and steady temperatures, but we have endured two weeks of mostly overcast skies and fog.  Fog where there is zero-zero visibility.   Nada.  Can't drive safely.  Often it starts in the valley and then sneaks up the hill to envelop us completely.

There is a great video of driving through the fog down the road we travel to Osoyoos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL08f53na2U

In reviewing it, we anticipated every one of those gnarly turns!!

The meteorological explanation is that with the angle of sun so low, the warmth of the rays do not penetrate to the valley bottom, and convection currents do not dissipate the cloud below.

Here is a picture of us out with our friends for a walk.

The only benefit has been the most exquisite hoar frost we have seen yet.

Things are still so quiet because of Omicron, so there is little else to report.

We hope this finds you healthy and coping (?!) and thank you for your visit.

Cheers!

January 2022 The Start to Another Year

First I will note that we were gone through the first half of January, visiting in the Antarctic.  That bog has finally been posted at malloysatlarge.blogspot.com.

We apparently missed big snow and cold temperatures.  Neighbours below us gave us a great picture of our house in the midst of it.

A kind set of neighbours on our street used their bobcat 3 times to clear our driveway, while generous ones below watered plants and shovelled sidewalks.

The latter half of January featured fog, valley fog, overcast skies, fog, and the occasional day of sunshine.

The explanation for this comes from the levels of sunlight,  In the winter, low levels of sun rays do not stir the upper layers of air in mountain valleys.  Inversions form and fog predominates down below.  We could watch fog come slowly up the valley to eventually envelop us in mist.

A beautiful outcome is that of hoar frost everywhere, sparkling in the occasional sunshine we get.

Back to Omicron, we have continued to do little outside the home, other than go for occasional walks with friends.

This particular set of friends is to be treasured, because Gerry made home-made Montreal style bagels the next day and shared!

Weather has been nondescript, at the best, although we are happy to avoid stronger systems affecting other parts of Canada.

We hope the New Year is treating you well, and hope that brighter weather, less constrictions, and less worries are in sight for 2022!