Lady of the Rime!

2008-01-25 20:08:56.000 – Kyle Paddleford,  Observer

Smile!

If you ever have a problem waking up early in the morning and quickly falling back to sleep, or feeling like the walking dead, I have the perfect solution. You take a temperature of 17 degrees below zero, add some wind in the 80 mph range, go outside, and then get shaken and stirred and you have the prefect recipe for an instant exhilarating wake up. Doubling the recipe is not suggested. Those were the conditions that Ryan and I faced around quarter of six this morning while getting the first observation of our working day. We both have seen colder and windier, but for some reason, this morning just felt like a shock to the system.

The clouds dissipated around sunrise and this lasted approximately for 3 hours. Clouds were scattered below the summit and this made for a beautiful sunrise. It was a nice treat for those who stayed overnight and participated in an Edu-trip titled Glacial Geology of the Presidential Range.

Now I know that it is not very nice to talk about a beautiful sunrise and not provide a picture. For that I am sorry. However, I do have a unique picture that may never be duplicated in a million years. Yesterday while looking at rime ice on one of the weather room windows, something caught my eye. First I saw a silhouette of a face. Next came what looked like to be a book in front of the face. More staring revealed a full body shape with legs, feet, back, you name it, and it had it. See for yourself. It reminds me of those games for kids where you have to find the hidden objects within a larger picture. I did have this verified by other staff and guests just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Marty, our new cat, loves to play with water. I always thought that cats were not too fond of the liquid. He bats around his water dish for fun and knocks over the occasional cup or glass too. He even loves staring at the water cooler. The way the water bubbles, the way the waves go back and forth, and even the sound of someone filling up their glass just seems to mesmerize him. He is very smart. He even observed how we push a button to get water from this contraption. Next thing you know, he was trying to reach the button with his paw! He was unsuccessful but as the saying goes, there is always tomorrow!

Kyle Paddleford,  Observer