Leon Turnbull Photography

Well I do like this photo quite a bit, but it is definitely not the photo I was seeking.

The weather forecasters screwed me up again. We had a big cold winter storm come in yesterday, calling for snow even in Folsom of all places (we very rarely get snow in Folsom). I was thinking I really should get out and photograph the snow, but I thought Auburn would be a better choice (they would get more snow there). On Sunday the forecast was saying that it would not snow in Auburn until Monday during the day and afternoon. So I figured that Monday after work would be a great time to go up to Auburn.

But … it snowed Sunday night instead! Even on Monday, the forecast was still saying that more snow would be coming in Auburn during the day. But it never happened. By the time I got up to Auburn after work, most of it had already melted. I was totally bummed about that, as I was hoping to get a great shot of the North Fork American River with snow on the trees and all around. If I had gone up to Auburn on Monday morning, it would have been perfect. Ah well, c’est la vie. I still managed to get a nice shot with a little bit of snow and some nice fog and clouds hanging over the river.

And the kids had fun as well. I brought the family up with me so they could play in the snow while I was photographing. We did have a bit of snow overnight in Folsom, but it was just a tiny amount. There was just a bit on our cars in the morning, only enough for my wife to go out and make a couple snowballs and throw them at the kids (fortunately not me, but the kids managed to get me quite good later in Auburn).

Just a simple sunset along the American River.

On Black Friday, while Tara and her mom were shopping, I had fun with the kids. I told them they could do anything they wanted in the morning, but in the afternoon, we were going to go somewhere Daddy wanted. So in the morning, they chose to go play at the local park, and we had fun there.

After lunch, I took them to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, about an hour south of Red Bluff. This time of year is interesting there, because of all the birds that spend the winter here. Especially snow geese. We saw thousands upon thousands of them flying around. It is really amazing how many of them there are, which you realize when they fly around like crazy, which they did a couple times. It is pretty cool.