The Truckee River runs from Lake Tahoe, CA to Pyramid Lake, NV. It passes right through the heart of Truckee and is the home of countless recreation activities. And this past September into early October it was virtually dry. The drought, affecting so much of the Western states, had drained the tributaries that feed the Truckee and turned our river into- what seemed to me, a seasonal creek. Which is why, after three days of heavy rain, I was looking forward to waking up early Monday morning and taking a run with my dog alongside the river to see the river full and flowing again, near flood status.
Instead, I woke up Monday morning to a different kind of awesome. Snow! And lots of it. I had been under the impression that Truckee may get an inch or two of snow Monday, but likely just rain. That is not what happened. We woke up to a foot of snow on the ground and ended with 18 inches at my house. This is fantastic for the drought, the ski season and the winter economy. I was happy for our community. My kids were happy for the snow day!
Then I thought about my afternoon and my plans through November and my excitement died down a bit. Here is why: my family are big soccer players. Both our kids play on the club team and I coach my daughters team. I quickly realized when shoveling out my car, that despite having at least 8 more games this season (all down the hill in Sacramento), the chances were high that we wouldn’t be playing on our fields again until May.
Shoot. The downfall of playing field sports in a mountain town. We can’t control the weather and despite our best intentions and first place rankings, we would not be getting anymore practices on grass. I thought to myself and other coaches- what can we do to save our season?
But I’m a lucky girl, and this time it was because I have the benefit of wearing two hats. First hat, TDRPD employee. Second hat, coach. Before even asking our District to try and help the sport teams, I heard that staff was working every angle to get the youth sport teams inside. On a Sunday afternoon staff was fielding phone calls, texts and emails and responding with available indoor gym space.
It has been in true #MountainForward fashion that TDRPD has met this early snowfall. Finding solutions, evolving creatively, and respecting our community.
So here I am, on Wednesday afternoon, on the way out the door to take my son to indoor practice and go on a run with my daughter’s team, feeling grateful for all sorts of reasons. One, that I work for an organization that will bend over backwards, on a Sunday, for our community. Two, that I can keep playing the sport I love even when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground. And three for the rain and snow that will begin to get us out of this drought. Because I know that playing field sports in a mountain town is difficult, but I wouldn’t trade that for anything. #MountainForward