Cold Front

Last night I was wakened by rain drumming on the roof. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and was soon asleep again. The next morning it was chilly enough to turn on the heat and warrant a hot breakfast of turkey bacon and eggs scrambled with jalapenos, onions, and chicken gleaned from a roast chicken carcass. I was through with breakfast by around 8:00 AM and leashed up Riki for his morning constitutional. Once outside I discovered the temperature was just above freezing, the sun was shining in a blue sky, there was not a breath of wind, and there were little piles of small hail stones in the corners. A cold front had rolled through during the night.

This is one of the best kinds of mornings in Florence, Oregon. The clean cold Pacific Ocean air had settled in behind the front to reveal a bright crisp world. A cold air mass is under high pressure so it settles to the surface and pushes out all the warmer, moister air ahead of it. Clouds don’t form in descending air and so the sky is blue and the sun is bright. People here correctly associate the cold air and bright light with the storm that passed through.

Riki and I were alert and vigorous and I extended our walk to enjoy the clean fresh air that was seemingly without any odor of sea or shore.