Mountains

-- Don Leach Once in a while a winter storm will pass through the area cold and gray. Leaving behind a crisp new day. And for one day the snow-topped mountains come into play. How do you make them seem closer, like they are in your head? Put away the small lens, put on the big one, instead. So I went to the place where I knew I could put the elements together and make it seem like the mountains were as close as they seemed, the Back Bay. The first clear day after a storm is always unique because the mountains are bright and brilliant.

Lolita Harper It's probably a good thing the students of Whittier Elementary School were not in the mountains because the fervor and pitch of their giggles and shrieks at Tuesday's snow day could have caused an avalanche. Nuzzled in the far corner of the school's playground were 20 tons of snow with hundreds of euphoric youngsters reveling in it. Freckle-faced Farah Fox was among those who was the most excited. She spoke in rapid narrative about her adventures in the snow, pausing only briefly to catch her breath and dodge a nearby sled.

What do tissue paper and post-Impressionist Paul Cezanne have in common? A lot, if you were in Mrs. Blackwell?s class at Kaiser Elementary School on Monday. It?s all part of ?Art Masters,? an enrichment program that holds assemblies a few times a year to teach kids about an artist?s life, then shows them how to capture a bit of the master?s style. Under Art Masters teacher Laura Williams? instruction, students took squares of tissue paper and tore them into rough gray triangles for mountains, then layered finger-sized strips of blue and pink for sunset skies, green and yellow for grasses underneath, sticking the whole thing together with liquid starch.

Danette Goulet COSTA MESA -- In the fourth grade, students are at a stage where they are on the cusp of transforming into older, more responsible children and yet still maintain many childish traits. One minute they can be seriously informing you of a fact and the next grinning in chagrin as they make a mess of trying to write a sentence. That is what I took away from watching them interact in groups, at any rate. It was quite endearing. Jennifer Wedlock's fourth-grade class at Adams Elementary School was studying the various regions of California.

Authorities were on the alert for flash floods Wednesday night as a storm hit the area. An 80% chance of rain is expected in the Newport-Mesa area Thursday, and there is a 60-to-70% chance of rain over the weekend, forecasters said. A storm forming over the Pacific Ocean has brought with it heavy rains and snow up in the mountains, forecasters said Wednesday. The low-pressure system is expected to move inland by Saturday but heavy rains, mountain snow and strong winds should continue through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Ahoy. We are experiencing great winter weather, and this weekend will be good with partly cloudy skies. The ocean conditions are typical for this time of year, but the Santa Ana winds with their offshore direction have been helping to keep the near-shore seas flat. Lately, it seems that the winds will never leave, and I am receiving a flood of e-mails inquiring why the recent Santa Ana winds were cold and not hot, plus what is the wind's true name. Let's start with the name.

There seems to be some confusion as to just who floated the first Christmas tree around Newport Harbor. The very first floating Christmas tree was put on the harbor by the original Junior Chamber of Commerce -- the pre-World War II chamber -- the existence of which came to a screeching halt on Dec. 7, 1941. That Junior Chamber of Commerce had three presidents: Bob Allen, myself and Cuba Morris. The first floating Christmas tree occurred during Cuba's reign.

Good things continue to mount for Daily Pilot Sports. I would presume, since you're reading this, you've found these pages as the "B" section of the Pilot, something that hasn't happened for many years. Beginning today the Sports on Sundays will come in this format, with expanded space and a continued emphasis on "Locals Only." We found our way back to Sundays in February of 2001, and finally came back to the Anteaters at UC Irvine last fall. That's a long way from where we were during the dark ages when the Daily Pilot went from a seven-days-a-week daily to six, then the horrible threes in '93 before bouncing back to five days a week, then six days a week, and now back to every day, with a "B" section on Sundays, as well as the customary Thursdays and Saturdays.

JOSEPH N. BELL I read the long, pictorial article in last Sunday's Los Angeles Times about the growing opium trade in Afghanistan with a special interest. I wrote an article 38 years ago that dealt with an identical problem a lot closer to home. Different times, different countries, but the plight of the farmers and the enormous difficulties in stopping this trade haven't changed very much in all those years. We learn slowly, and sometimes not at all. I got involved with this story in 1967 when the editor of Today's Health, the magazine of the American Medical Assn.

Until two weeks ago, my wife -- a born and bred Southern Californian -- had never seen the magic of the fall season. We looked longingly at travel folders of New England in October, but that's as close as we got until some dear friends who live in the southeastern corner of North Carolina invited us to visit and we decided to combine it with a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which bisects Tennessee and ...

The USC women's water polo team defeated Stanford, 11-7, on Sunday to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship in Berkeley. The next day, the Trojans were awarded the top seed for the NCAA Championship, which begins May 10 and is hosted by Harvard. USC (24-1) features junior co-captain Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Harbor High) and seniors Nicolina McCall (Newport Harbor) and Chelsea Silvers (Newport Beach-Mater Dei). Gilchrist is the second-leading scorer (41 goals)

UC Irvine senior Kevin Tillie and sophomore Michael Brinkley have been named first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation to lead four Anteaters recognized by men's volleyball coaches. Juniors Collin Mehring and Scott Kevorken were second-team honorees for No. 3-ranked UCI (22-6, 18-6 in conference), which tied for second in the MPSF and is the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament. UCI plays host to No. 7-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 7 p.m. UCSB (15-15, 11-13)

NEWPORT COAST - Leave it to Sage Hill School head coach and former NFL wide receiver JR Tolver to put a silver lining on a tough season. After Friday's 46-0 loss to Las Vegas Division III power Mountain View Christian - think of it as Estancia or a smaller version of Newport Harbor playing against the Lightning - Tolver still kept his players focusing on the big picture. Despite an 0-7 record - eight straight losses dating to last season - Academy League play still does not begin until Oct. 18 against Brethren Christian at Ocean View, after a much-needed bye week.

It started with the 2006 season, when the University High School girls' tennis team reached the first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Since then, Uni Coach John Kessler's girls have climbed the proverbial ladder - rung by rung - to a potential CIF championship. In 2007, the Trojans reached the second round; in 2008 and 2009 they reached the quarterfinals; in 2010 they reached the semifinals and last year they reached the CIF Division I championship match. They lost a close one, 10-8, to Dana Hills in the title match, but at least they got there.

UC Irvine head men's volleyball coach John Speraw was named 2012 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year after capturing the MPSF Tournament and qualifying for the NCAA Championship. Speraw, in his 10th year at UCI, led the Anteaters to their fourth NCAA Championship appearance after the Anteaters won their second MPSF Tournament with a pair of five-set, come-from-behind wins in the semifinal and final. UCI was the fourth seed for the tournament, after finishing in a three-way tie for second a 17-5 record.

UC Irvine junior Carson Clark has been named first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in men's volleyball for a third straight season. Clark, a 6-foot-5 opposite, is joined on the first-team by senior outside hitter Cory Yoder. Senior outside hitter Jordan DuFault is a repeat second-team honoree, while freshman middle blocker Scott Kevorken was named to the All-Freshman team. Clark is second in the MPSF in kills (4.55) and points (5.24) per set). He ranks fourth in aces per set (0.42)

COSTA MESA — William Burke has enough ambition to climb mountains. You might even say that he has enough to climb the world's highest mountain, back to back, from opposite sides. At 69, the Costa Mesa resident will attempt what he believes to be the first ever double-summit of Mt. Everest in a single season. He will attempt to summit the peak from the north and south sides. "There's only a short weather window in May when you can get to top, but the altitude just takes a lot out of you," Burke said.

ABOARD THE ALASKA EAGLE, off South Georgia Island — With 30 knots of wind behind us, Alaska Eagle was flying along at 11 knots. Suddenly we found ourselves in fog with 200 feet of visibility. "Up for ice!" Peter called from the mast. As we quickly turned toward the wind, a golf cart-sized chunk of glacier slid by to starboard. In clear weather, the ice is easy to spot by our four lookouts, but the fog now demands more attention; hitting a ton or two of a bit of iceberg can do serious damage.

Chandler Hunt has kept a keen eye on the performances at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Well, that is, when he isn’t on a snow run, himself, or in the pool for water polo practice with the Newport Harbor developmental program. This weekend, the 11-year-old will again experience the thrill of competition when he vies for titles in not one, but two, snowboard disciplines. Hunt will compete in boardercross events Saturday and halfpipe events on Sunday, both days, at Mountain High in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Orange Coast College sophomore tight end Anthony Vidal will continue his football career at UNLV, Pirates Coach Mike Taylor said. Vidal, who caught six passes for 58 yards in four games of an injury-shortened 2009 season, had received scholarship offers from Towson State and Southeast Missouri State. Offensive lineman Charles Schultz, a Newport Harbor High product, and linebacker Matt McCloskey have landed at Rocky Mountain College, an NAIA program in Billings, Mont., Taylor confirmed.