Power was out along the West Shore, in Tahoe City, and along the North Shore eastward to Tahoe Vista for over 30 hours through New Year's Eve. The outage happened at just before noon on December 31st and continued through the evening hours of January 1st, leaving residents, businesses and visitors scrambling for information, food, heat and gas and changing New Year's Eve plans.

On Saturday the power company told local residents that power would be restored before New Year's Eve partying started, but power remained out through the New Year.

Two local ski resorts, Alpine Meadows and Palisades Tahoe, were forced to close all mountain operations today due to the conditions as rain continued to drench the already saturated snowpack. Officials around the Northern California and Northern Nevada area are watching as river gauges and flooding concerns rise.

To win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children.

To earn the approbation of honest citizens
and endure the betrayal of false friends.

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition.

To have played and laughed with enthusiasm
and sung with exultation.

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived...
This is to have succeeded.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take your pick:
• Skiing & Boarding. Check the Tahoetopia Webcams. There is great snow on the higher elevations. Ride up in comfort and carve your way down. Then do it again.

• Ice Skating. Squaw and Northstar have excellent rinks and ambiance. Glide and twirl to your heart's content.

• Walking & Hiking. At lower elevations the streets and most trails are relatively snow free. See your neighborhood and visit local creeks and the Truckee River at any one of a dozen places.

It's nice when a little story with high potential for lightening the load floats in out of the blue. The themes in the story are not especially new, but they strike a chord nevertheless.

The open letter below is credited to a 63-year-old woman who was writing to a dear friend.

Dear...

What am I doing? Well, let me tell you. I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in my garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Councilman, Richard Anderson, was voted in as Vice Mayor. Traditionally, the positions of Mayor and Vice Mayor in the Town of Truckee rotate annually among the Town Council members at the first meeting in December.

It is reported that eight years earlier (1888) Nobel had seen a premature obituary of himself in a French newspaper. In it Nobel's invention, dynamite, was condemned. After reading his own obituary, he vowed to try to leave an improved legacy to the world.

Nobel set up five annual prizes: One each in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and the furtherance of international peace. A sixth prize in economics, funded by the Swedish National Bank, was added starting in 1969.

The voice continued: "She's fourteen years old, she's fat, and she doesn't like people...well, we're assuming she doesn't like people since she tries to bite everyone. Ummm....so do you want her? By the way, her name is Big Bertha."

A tempting offer, right? Ha ha. It sounded like Big Bertha had run out of time and options...but I thought as I tapped my fingers on the desk, well-l-l, it wouldn't hurt to look...even though I already had three cats and a husband at home.