Off to Sun Valley

January is a good month to leave Boise—this year it would have been a really good idea.  When we returned home after the holidays, there was snow on the ground.  There is STILL snow on the ground (unusual for Boise).  About a week after our return the temperature plummeted.  The lows were in the single digits, often close to zero and the highs were in the teens.  And then there was the inversion—cold air trapped in the valley which gradually became dirtier and dirtier until there were orange air alerts—unhealthy to breathe.  The sun was nearly a forgotten memory.  People grumbled and plotted escape.  More snow arrived, improving the air for a short time.  One morning, on a day that snow was predicted, we got freezing rain instead—a layer of ice covered everything.  Cars were frozen shut and people slid and fell while walking across parking lots.  Body shops and hospital ERs did brisk business.  The sun finally did make a brief appearance but it was just a tease.  The highs got up to freezing, almost balmy it seemed.

My husband and I were excited to leave Boise behind and join our friends in Sun Valley for a couple days.  The sky was an intense blue and the sun reflected brightly off the snow.  We stepped into our cross country skis and inhaled the cold, crisp air.  We spent two lovely days breathing the clean air and soaking in the sunshine as we skied the groomed trails.  It was easy to forget the weather at home and enjoy the pleasures of Sun Valley.  However, the time came to return home, so we packed up the car and headed south.  We were barely past Mountain Home, about an hour from Boise, when we saw it—a layer of brown blanketing the scenery ahead.  Moments later we were back in the haze and the sun had disappeared.  Sun Valley was just a memory.  Perhaps next year we will become snowbirds and head south for the winter.