A Quiet Week of Early Winter in Tahoe

Back home in Tahoe at the end of November. The first real snow had started to stick to the ground, just a thin layer along the rocky shoreline of the lake. The most memorable thing from that day was this strange, disc-shaped lenticular cloud just hanging motionless over the water for hours.

A few days later, a proper storm had passed through, leaving a thick blanket of snow everywhere. I went for a walk in the woods near the house. The sun was bright and low in the sky, casting long, sharp shadows from the pines across the trail. It was quiet, with just the sound of snow crunching underfoot.

I spent some time following one of the local rivers as it cut through the forest. The contrast between the dark, moving water and the perfectly white snow on the banks was stark. The sky was a deep blue, and everything felt crisp and cold.

Later in the week, I ended up out in one of the big meadows. The clouds were rolling in over the mountains, creating dramatic light across the valley. The old wooden fence running through the field was covered in a layer of snow, tracing a line across the landscape.