Why Do They Call It The Cold Sump of Oregon?

Soooo..... Why do they call it that?

sump (sump) n. 1. A pit or hole that receives drainage. 2. A cesspool. [ME sompe, marsh.].

Well, Seneca really isn't too much of a swamp or marsh - though it does have a river that runs through it which tends to flood in the spring. A lot of people might lovingly refer to it as a cesspool, but most the town folk might disagree.

A cold sump is the lowest point in an area, and since cold air is heavier than warm air, it tends to settle there. Throughout the winter it is usually always foggy when you are driving across the flats coming into Bear Valley. I always think of the ocean when I am driving home in the early hours of the morning just as the sun is starting to peek out. Seneca is unique that it is a valley, but it is a valley that sits at nearly 5000 ft in elevation. We get the cold and snowy mountain weather that the whole county gets, but the cold settles in early and stays late. Last year we had a week straight of about -30 degrees that never rose above 0 degrees during the daytime. Seneca holds the record of -64 degrees back in the day (I believe that's right it might've only been-54, but I'm pretty sure it's -64).

This year has been odd. We didn't really even start getting "winter" until about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Now it's in full bore and we have already reached -20 a couple days ago. This year is different though, the rest of the state, including Portland have been getting snow as well and freezing temps. It was colder in Bend this last week than it was in Seneca! We had our Mules (Harley and Rusty) at Josh's Aunt and Uncle's house in Redmond last year because it gets so cold in Seneca. This year we kept them here and are having a very hard time keeping water to them. Their water freezes as soon as we give it to them. Josh says they will just eat snow to get water, but I feel really bad. We have no way of getting electricity to them to put a heater-thingy in the water to keep it thawed. At least this year they are in a pasture that has a loafing shed so they can get out of the storm.

The dogs have been getting spoiled this winter though. Since the cold hit, they have been sleeping inside every night. The first couple nights they were confined to the laundry room, but it has slowly ebbed out so that now they walk right in and spread out in the living room, our room, etc. I love it, and Josh has surprisingly accepted it. Our house is so small, and they are so big though that it's hard to get around them.

Well, I will take some more pics of the aftermath of the storm later. I'm at work now and we just got a storm warning from the weather service that said we could get up to 18 inches by Monday! I know other areas have already gotten that much and more.. (Spokane, Wa), but we will batten down and get ready. With our recent wind/snow storm earlier, the tarp ripped and blew off our house. Let's hope it stays really cold so we can continue to shovel the snow off the subfloor and not have it soaking in.

The pictures are from one of the warmer nights in our house. I'm very grateful for the house we are renting right now - but it is very old. Very thin, single-paned windows that the grout has all loosened from, drafts, etc. The windows are from Bridger's room (that has plastic on the outside!), the kitchen window, and the laundry room window.

Stay warm everyone! It's just getting started!!!