Perfect Weekend for snow sports

No matter where you were this weekend around the Lake, you enjoyed excellent conditions. That high pressure system out in Nevada brought light breezes from the east and kept the clouds and fog and cold winds somewhere else.
While visiting a restaurant in the neighborhood, the TV was broadcasting a game from spring training camp between the New York Yankees and Phillies. New York won 8-5. The fans were in sunwear, dark glasses and short sleeves, definitely spring training. So here we are: the first weekend of March, the solstice in about 3 weeks, and a dry winter in the books. Combine this season with the ongoing recession, and we have a deepening of adverse conditions for residents around the Lake. It is a hard lesson in business cycles, changing demographics, a new model for resort business, and continued antagonism between developer interests and environmentalists(NIMBY's). The Boomers are retiring now in ever growing numbers and many have found their circumstances less than what they had hoped for while working: their homes are worth less, pensions worth less, Social Security eaten up by inflation, Medicare only a partial insurance program, and healthcare rising at an annual rate of 6% or more. All this in a presidential election year with the 2 parties facing off over who's to blame for the BIG RECESSion.
Maybe it's time to board the Rocket Ship and take a long vacation; then return and hope things have improved.

Avalance conditions exist today

Advisory from the Mayor's Office of Ski Safety: Alpine Meadows resort reported an avalance that claimed the life of a young man who was swept away with several friends who were not injured during the event. Search and rescue personnel retrieved the body after a difficult climb to the location pointed out by his companions.
The slide occurred in off trail areas, not a regular run. It underscores the dangers that exist off groomed runs.
With the late winter snowfall, overly aggressive skiers can trigger slides that otherwise would not occur.
Maintain awareness of conditions in all areas ahead of time.

YES SNOW

Well, you asked for it. Finally, measurable snow falling around Tahoma. A bit late, true, but, we'll take it. It might last through tomorrow. Viva for the late winter event. This could set the stage for some Spring skiing, or in the case of 2012: winter skiing, only later.

Real Estate
The Case/Shiller Index came out Tuesday with more bad news. The 20 region measure of home prices indicates that prices continue to slide south. Obama hasn't quite figured it out. Maybe he will if he's reelected in November. Judging by the opposition efforts to unseat him, he'll have time in 2013 to boost the real estate market using any new strategy he can come up with.
Since his pal at the Fed,Ben Bernanke, promised low rates for 3 more years, the interest rate lever has been taken off the table. Apparently, the eggheads in DC are playing the waiting game to see if: 1) the Euro will survive,2)PIGS will survive,3)American banks will have to write down Euro -denominated paper on their books.
Until that happens, the RE market will stumble along, looking for the bottom.

February 29th Leap day

By definition, a leap year must have a leap day. That would be February 29. A weird day, to be sure: it screws up everybody's calendar, promotes unusual behaviors in both sexes, and causes stresses in the work place, schools, and at the gym where work outs run on and on.
Probably the most difficult day for those poor saps born on a February 29, leap day. Every year they become unwitting victims of jokes, intended or not, surrounding their parentage, their intellectual weight, and their actual age. "Well, I'm only 12 years old if you're counting birthdays".
and the like.
Most people could care less, but for some, there can be some memories attached to Leap Year.
1968 was a Leap Year. That most memorable of American years when worldwide upheavals at home and abroad threatened to cause civilization to implode. The list of events of that Leap Year continues to grow as writers/ historians unearth facts and figures related to events in 1968.
Soon the mayor will post up a preliminary list and request the citizenry to add to the list to make it more complete. Involving the community in this "living" history project will benefit the wider community.
Stay tuned.

Winter Weather Part 2

That pesky high pressure system is hanging around again. With rising temps, the snow is beginning to look like corn. Don't say 'corn' snow, yet. It's only February. We have another month of winter. We do?
While spring is still a ways off, our 2012 winter is shaping up to be a very, very dry affair. Fire officials should be issuing the customary warnings and scare tactics for locals soon. The PR types and media pundits will roll out the tired old phrases and totems that spell "FIRE" . Citizens are becoming immune to these warnings, and as scare tactics go, the warnings hardly make any impression at all.
That is not to say the locals aren't aware; They are just tired of same old,same old.
So, get some skiing in while there is still some white stuff about.

SHANE the real story

A few weeks back, the deputy Mayor and the mayor were relaxing, reading some important documents and channel surfing. Lo, and behold, the 1953 movie classic,SHANE, appears on the TV. Having seen it many times and recognized Alan Ladd, I knew that this was an opportunity for the deputy mayor to study some past American culture( 50's cinema) and get a glimpse into the way past as constructed by an author in 1949. The deputy mayor lost interest after the first 10 minutes. The Mayor watched it through, enjoying those moments as Hollywood portrayed the settling of the "wild west" yet again.
The horse opera as these films were labelled derisively, was nearing the end of its run as 'fodder' for theaters around the country. Advances in video technology, film production, and post war American social change all contributed to the transformation of entertainment through the medium of film. For young boys and men, it was the last glimpse of the 19th century and early 20th century when America rode on horseback to work. Of course, Hollywood made it look romantic and cool, a viewer couldn't smell the horse,etc., nor swat the flies, or get tossed into a muddy river.
The Mayor began to wonder,"Who wrote the book, SHANE?" Google, then one knows. it was Jack Schaefer, from Westport, Connecticut. A graduate of Oberlin College, he was a writer for newspapers for years and decided to try fiction. SHANE was his first novel of many. Although he kept a horse at his house, he didn't move west until 1955, years after the novel, and a few after the movie. As a trained reporter/writer, he developed an eye for detail, and a style that appealed to readers at many levels(the newspaper training). In the short novel, or novelette, he describes the character of Shane over and over again, giving the reader more and more details of the enigmatic figure who rides into the lives of a family setting down roots, literally, in Wyoming in 1889. Despite the descriptions, the reader, like the family in the book, knows little of Shane, past or present. Rumors abound, cast about by the usual cast of characters: townsfolk, cowboys, and drifters.
As the story develops, local conflicts come to a head and a confrontation occurs that places a decision on Shane: reveal the past(and his former role) or not, and abandon the family that has adopted him to the fates. Hollywood, being what it is, and the writer, telling a good story, give the reader and viewer much to chew on and savor as the action reaches its climax. In the end, Shane saves the family by his actions(confronting the interlopers), is wounded but survives, and now must move on.
The deputy mayor pointed out that Shane and the settler's wife were beginning to develop certain feeling toward one another. The author, Schaefer, clearly noted in passing, that this was true! Captured delicately in the film, using the small boy observer, and the solid but weaker father, Shane and Marian, the wife, acknowledged the mutual interest, and Shane knew he had to move on, again. At the end, the lonely cowboy road off into the darkness, leaving the family safe and secure. A classic.
The lonely cowboy icon survives in many forms to this day. Whether Jedi knight or vengeful warrior/cop/agent/ assassin/reformer, the image continues to sell well.

Snow At Tahoe/ Northstar

The weekend is half over and it appears to have achieved some success. The Lake was accessible by drivers from the Bay Area and the Central Valley(and Reno,too). It appears the guests have brought along their snowboards, skis, and sleds for a fine weekend. Perhaps there will be some more snow tonight, but it won't be much to contend with on the way home either Sunday or Monday .
While this recent snow does not make up for the season's deficiencies, it does help the bottom line a bit. Perhaps this late winter effort will continue. It is anybody's guess in mid-February.

The CHRONICLE ran a nice article Saturday morning ,complete with photo, extolling the virtues of 2' of new snow. The photo captured a skier traversing a run that clearly had shrubs in abundance on the slope- not the best shot for skiers. But, it is encouraging, even in February.
Enjoy the slopes.

The Minister of Manufacturing and Industry is in town this weekend for a conference at Meeks Bay. He is meeting with representatives of automotive business, steel fabricators, and economists to discuss business prospects in the EU, Japan, Africa, and Nevada.
Our good wishes to the Minister in his efforts.