The storm happened and it rained all day this past Sunday. It was very warm that day, in the high 40s. The rivers rose, as predicted, and caused flooding and evacuations. You may have seen some news clips on the national news. Those clips were mostly in Reno, but there were scary events in our valley too. A bridge on Highway 395 (the main highway in the valley) was breached and 395 was closed in both directions. My sister, Jerri, was coming home from Carson City, a trip that normally takes 15 to 20 minutes, and it took her about an hour and a half. She was in bumper-to-bumper traffic for many miles and had to go through a miles-long area where the river was rolling across the road. Even with these issues, I am high and dry and so is my family. We have been blessed.
As far as I know, no one has been killed or hurt. A lot of preparation went into anticipating this event. I think our first responders and regular citizens can be proud of their efforts.
Today, 395 is open to northbound travelers. You can to Carson City but can’t get back without the long detour. Needless to say, I’m staying home, doing chores that I never want to do.
In the blast blog, I mentioned that we were awaiting more storms. That is still true. But here is the good news. These new storms are coming from the regular course that brings snow to the mountains (and maybe here) and generally rain to us. So my doom and gloom about the snow pack was for naught. (I hope) We’re supposed to get some strong winds but they haven’t materialized yet. I’m glad because one of my trees in back is listing and our 90 mph winds wouldn’t help it. Oh well, it is what it is.
As you can see, the snow and ice is all gone, but the quail are still here for their daily rations. I was just checking them a few minutes ago when I noticed my wrong-way mockingbird was chowing down at the suet cake. I say wrong-way because mockingbirds are not normally in northern Nevada. But this guy has been here off and on since just before Christmas.
About two minutes after the above photo, a red-tailed hawk swooped in and almost caught one of the quail.
I might have gotten a picture of him swooping in, but I was entranced with watching the drama unfold. The quail scattered and ran under the bush to the right of the first photo. They stood stock still, waiting. The hawk perched and waited too. Eventually, the hawk decided pickings would be better elsewhere. As soon as he flew off, the quail were back pecking at their seeds. It’s an interesting event to watch. I wish I could figure out who gives the alarm. They just seem to know exactly when to move quickly to safety. Dad always said their call was “Cuidado!” which means, “Be careful!” in Spanish. There is never a dull moment in this backyard.
I hope this epistle finds you all doing well with the weather these days. It’s been crazy (except for friends in Maui) but it makes life interesting.
buzzardnotes 
Yes, indeed, the weather has been crazy! We had 60 mile an hour sustained winds and gust up to 80 miles an hour for several days. Avalanches in the Rockies and tons of snow in the mountains all over. Enough to wind blow heavy tiles off my roof and down many trees and fences all over town. I keep thinking things could have been so much worse. If we had had fires plus wind, if the floods had really happened. Certainly, there are people who suffered and all the weather is not over yet, but we hear of people helping neighbors and setting up networking to help people in need whom they don’t even know. It’s heart warming to know there are so many “good” people in the world! You ~~~ taking care of your birds are part of the picture. Even your hawks must eat and you have a respect for their part in nature. Thank you for your vigalent recording of events.
With love and respect, Connie