Snow, man!

Snow?!? Waking up yesterday was a bit of a shock. Having moved here from Montana nearly a dozen years ago, snow in March was hardly unusual ... nor is April or even May blizzards. In the years I lived in that state, I saw it snow on every major holiday. But a late March snow in Walla Walla seems like something our grandparents would have referred to from the 'old days.'

Snow or rain (but not gloom of night), Museum work continues. Each year we take a day to shoot new photos of our Living History participants so that they'll look fresh in newspaper articles, web site postings, and wherever else they might appear. In the past, we did the shoot in late February and it seemed that more often than not we were dodging cold rain or snow flurries under an overcast sky that was hardly repesentative of local weather during the bulk of our season. We try hard to portray the community in its best light (no pun intended), knowing that our many guests from 'the wet side' travel this far to enjoy dry, sunny weather. Shooting in the gloom largely defeats that purpose.

This year we pushed picture day back a month to try to take advantage of better weather. Saturday's day-long rain and Sunday's snow nearly doused that hope, but by Sunday afternoon the clouds parted and things had warmed up. A goodly number of the Company arrived for group and individual portraits, including Chloe, the first kid we've seen in the Company for awhile. All dressed up in 'Sunday-go-to-Meetin' pioneer garb, she was quite a lovely sight.

Today is gloriously sunny ... out my office window I can see the farthest windmills on the ridge west of town, even see the blades rotating. That means its quite clear today, so let's all get out when we can and enjoy as much of the day as possible. It's Spring Break for Washington School kids and teachers and the Museum opens April 1 for visitation. Looks like a good opportunity to have a little family fun at Fort Walla Walla Museum!