Something New

I don't recall ever seeing this in my driveway.

I know it doesn't look like much and, um...Deb, that's snow and ice. Yeah yeah, but can you also see the embedded brown bits in the ice?

Pine cones. Hundreds of small pine cones. They are about an inch long, if that. There is a pine tree in the neighbor's yard at this location.

It's been there a long time and I don't remember it ever sending out pine cones before, ever. I wonder if the cold winter has anything to do with that.

I have two pine trees on the north side of the house and they have, in the past, shed pine cones, but usually in the very early spring, not in the dead of winter. Plus those are about 2-3 inches long and slender. These are about the size of large acorns. Thankfully, they don't really track into the house on boots so when I drag garbage or recycling to the curb, I'm not in danger of bringing something inside. They are also kind of fragile.

I looked at them and thought "Ooooh! Craft project. I'll just scoop up a whole bunch and then, in the summer, spray paint them gold and silver, mount them on a styrofoam wreath and I have something for that transition from Christmas to Valentine's Day. And then, as I took these photos I thought, "Yeah. This will be just another batch of things you think you're going to do and they will sit in the basement for 7 years." When I drive or walk over them, they crush easily and then fall apart. I have enough stuff in my basement to be used for crafting "to dos" that I don't need more.

Still, it's been interesting to see these in the last week. I wonder what other things we will see with this cold weather.

Beverage:  Lady Grey tea

Deb

Not A Blizzard

It's gorgeous right now. The sun came out an hour ago and I love how clear everything looks.

It's like it was outlined.

Yes, that's a lot of snow. On Monday, we were informed there would be a "small" weather system moving through the Chicago area. The snow would start around 6 p.m. If you lived north, near Wisconsin, you could expect to see around 5 inches of snow. If you lived in the middle, where I live, there would be about 3 inches coming. I guess I should have realized on Tuesday, that this wasn't going to be what was predicted when it started snowing at 2; really snowing, the kind of snow fall that makes everything look like you're viewing it through waxed paper.

I tried to stay somewhat on top of it. It was very dry snow. You cannot make snowballs or forts or men with this. So, all New Year's Eve and throughout New Year's Day, I would go out and sweep the snow off the deck. The shovels, which sit by the back door, weren't needed. It was so light, I just used the broom.

But, it never stopped coming, all day. I'd grab the boom whenever I was in the kitchen and go sweep. I couldn't tolerate being outside in just my slippers and street clothes so I never completely swept off the deck. I swept the deck at 9 p.m. and, at 11 p.m., when I was getting ready for bed, it was covered again.

The humpy pile at the upper left corner is where the birdbath is. It wasn't snowing much at 11 p.m., so I gave the deck another sweep and went to bed.

Well, this is more than 3 inches, but, because it's lightweight, I'll be able to head out the driveway in the morning and deal with it when I get home. Imagine my consternation when I awoke and saw the amount of snow on the deck was double what I'd swept up. I started shoveling right after eating some breakfast, but I realized that there was more than I was going to be able to handle in an hour. The temperatures are to tank here overnight so I didn't want to let the lack of paths sit and have to try to shovel in worse cold so I took today off. Ironically, at the beginning of December, I considered taking today and tomorrow off. I have the days to use up, but we are so busy, I didn't feel I could. Mother Nature made sure I got a snow day.

I have to go slow. I'm just slower than others, even with powdery white stuff. This is not a race to see who can clear the drive quickly. This is just to liberate things, like the Jeep, so I can carry on with life.

It's quite pretty out, even when it's snowing buckets and you have to move this stuff from one section to another. The recycling can is a good indicator of depth.

I like the ring on the top of the compost bin. I should try to find the lid for this thing, but I know the squirrels love it when I toss seeds into the bin.

I shoveled to the Jeep and got that swept off and dug out. Dug out is kind of a misnomer. With the snow being so light, it's easy to just shove it out of the way. But there's a foot of it out there so I did have to scoop and throw, scoop and throw. Once I got the Jeep cleared off, I looked down the drive and felt tired.

That yellow bit to the left is my glove. I was using my cell phone camera at this point as the other camera's battery had died, of course. I decided this was as much as I would do at that time. I needed to rest and not overdo it.

A nap with Pilchard and I was refreshed to tackle the next phase, the front. My plan was just shoveling two tracks down the drive to the apron, eventually, in the afternoon, shoveling the apron. This next phase would shovel past the house, create a path for the mailman by the mailbox, shovel the front steps and part of the front walk.

I need a new mailbox, but I've said that for several years now.

Thankfully, I can just shove this snow to the left or right.

I felt good so I started shoveling one tire track to the street. My neighbor, from across the street, came over with his snowblower and offered to help. He blew out the driveway apron and widened the sidewalk from my one shovel width to one and a half. I shoveled the other wheel track and the front walk and I was done, at noon.

I repositioned the Jeep so I can drive forward in the morning and I'm good. This went so much faster than the great blizzard of February 2011, when I didn't get out until Sunday evening. Mercifully, it's not to be windy so none of this light, powdery stuff will blow across the drive. Eric, who lives down the block from me, came through at 12:45 and widened the sidewalk all the way. He also blew out more of the driveway apron, specifically at the street where there was a small lip from the plow.

As I was finishing the front walk, the mailman came by. He thanked me for shoveling a path when he handed me my mail. "Neither snow nor rain..."

And you'll be wanting to know how I feel. At 1:30, I was quite sore. I'd felt okay, great even, when shoveling. I know to lift with my legs and not my back, but my knees and hips are areas where the RA is. It was painful so I took another nap after taking some aspirin. I need to go to bed at a decent time tonight so make sure I allow for some tossing until I get comfortable.

So, I have survived the snowy start to 2014. I'm good with snow now. It doesn't have to deposit any of this on us for the rest of the winter. I'm good with this much. It can gradually melt over the next couple of months and then, in March, be completely gone. The neighborhood kids have had a great time helping shovel and being pulled around yards on sleds. The street isn't as clear as one would like but these guys have been at it since 1:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve. There's a lot of overtime in this storm.

In another irony, the word of the day today is "graupel".

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

This Is Good

I seldom get involved in politics on my blog. I kind of like it to be a haven for readers from the political that seems to surround us most of the time without our wanting it. I'm going to make a small exception today.

Last night, the Illinois legislature voted to extend marriage rights to gays and lesbians. It's been a long time coming and it's long overdue. It's about the only thing the legislature has been able to do right in a couple of years. I love living in a dysfunctional state.

Last Saturday, while at Mariano's, I bought a bottle of bubbly. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it but they had a huge number of different kinds so my thinking, at the time, was to try them all out and then decide which one I would use to toast the upcoming holidays and the new year. Instead, I unscrewed the cap and poured half the bottle last night.

I honestly do not care if someone is gay, lesbian, transgendered, Martian or Whovian. If you treat me with respect, because most humans deserve respect simply because they are on this planet (There are some people, it could be argued, who are beyond respect.), then I will treat you with respect. I'll probably respect your right to occupy your space even if you kick me in the shins. I've never met a gay or lesbian or transgendered person who has not been respectful and nice to me while I've met a whole lot of heterosexual people who need a whompin' upside the head to learn what respect means. (I realize the irony of that statement.)

Whether you agree or disagree with their ability to marry, this class of people has been denied rights for far too long. If they are in a committed relationship, they haven't been able to make proper wills or powers of attorney or real estate and health decisions for each other. That's just wrong. As soon as Governor Quinn signs the bill into law and I'm sure he's planning a huge party when he does that, these people will finally be covered under the laws I take for granted.

"But think of the children!" was one of the arguments I heard against this. What's more important, a loving home or a man and a woman who openly loathe each other staying together for the "good" of their children? A loving, warm, happy home is a loving, warm, happy home, free of violence and abuse regardless of the gender of the adults in the building. Gays and lesbians are no less likely to be rotten parents than the rest of the population. Neither are they any less likely to divorce. We're all in this together, as Red Green would say.

So, last night I toasted something Illinois should have done a long time ago. This bill doesn't change my way of life in the least other than I should perhaps go next door and offer the lesbians use of my driveway for parking for their wedding reception next year. They wouldn't even have to invite me.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

I Believe I Can Fly

The driveway to the south of the house has often been a gateway for wildlife to get from the backyard to the street. Since I don't have a garage, it's easy to run along the drive and make a left turn into the front yard. Rabbits use this all the time. One year, Carole had taken one of the garbage cans to the curb, turned around and saw a skunk in the drive.

Last night, I pulled in after work and got out. My eye was attracted to something brownish that seemed to fall into the drive along the house. It took me a minute to realize what it was.

It was a fledgling robin.

My neighbors have a large pine tree just south of the drive, off the northeast corner of their house. They also have a bird's nest at the immediate northeast corner, tucked between the house and the "S" curve of the drain pipe.

As I approached, the bird hopped along the drive to get away from me. I couldn't see a nest in the pine tree, but that doesn't mean it's not there. You can see that the rear feathers are not fully developed. All it seemed to be able to do was hop. After getting my picture, I left it be. I decided not to bring the recycling can back from the street because I'd have to maneuver it by the bird. It's in enough shock to have tried to fly and fell. It didn't need to contend with a human and a big blue recycling container.

This morning it was not in the drive. I walked it to be certain. I am rather thankful that I don't have outdoor cats. Betsy, Rascal, Shakespeare, even Penny or Half-Pint would have loved this. "Oooh, thanks mom. Dinner."

Speaking of dinner, there's been a morning visitor to the front yard.

I eat my cereal and have this guy staring back at me. I know they can see me because if I throw up my hands, he will take off. The girls will notice him but they seem uninterested. Squirrels on the deck, yes. Rabbits in the front yard, no.

I like that there is an abundance of wildlife, even of what could be considered a slightly mundane type, in my yard. As overgrown as it is this year, with all the rain, I'm providing a decent habitat. In return, a good habitat provides me with a healthier environment. Plus, when Mija is sitting on the magazine I want to read with my cereal, it gives me something to watch over my Cheerios.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Well It Ain't Me

Sometimes, the act of finding something to be happy about on a daily basis gets a little help. Witness this, seen in the morning as I was heading to the office.

I have no idea where it came from. It appears the wind carried it to the yard where it entangled itself around that fern on the north side of my neighbor's house. It made me giggle. I'm fairly certain the gals next door would not define themselves as "princesses". Lord knows I certainly don't. Still, this started the day with a laugh and we could all use one of those. It was gone when I got home.

Now, bring me a bag of Oreos and some milk while I put my feet up in the recliner and watch a movie. Make sure you bow when entering and leaving my presence.

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb

Fling Open the House

I wish to point out that it was 42 on Friday past and it was 86 today. It was 61 yesterday. To say this spring has ranged in extremes is a severe understatement. Over the weekend, I read stories of ice still on Lake Mille Lac in Minnesota and it was 97 in Denver the same day.

It's hard to decide what to do about one's domicile with such extremes. Usually, I have the plastic covering the windows removed by the end of April. There are moderating temperatures and the few days it dips back into the low 60's are easily handled. But 42? If you are aware of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe", that is the universal answer to all mathematical questions, indeed all questions, but it should not be the high temperature in Chicago on the Friday before Mother's Day. I'd take a rainy day over a high of 42. So, the plastic has remained along with the furnace running at night to keep my joints from being stiffer than they usually are in the morning.

This prospect of 80's, then 70's over the weekend, however, had me assessing the status of the plastic and the comfort of the cats. If I remove the plastic, I can fling open the windows for lovely cross breezes, something the girls would appreciate. It means getting up earlier in the morning to make sure the windows are open if the 60 to which the night descends is kept out. That's just a bit too chilly for me to have the windows open. I do not wish to put on the AC in May. I'll tough it out, thank you very much, rather than add to an electric bill that, while going down per watt, is still higher than some people in Asia make in a month.

So, I began removing plastic over the weekend. Two windows are open now. A window in the cat's room was never covered, something I will probably have to rectify this coming fall unless I win that one contest I entered that guaranteed new windows. I have one office window open and will remove the other this weekend. In fact, all the rest of the windows will be freed of plastic on Saturday. It is the ritual of spring. Flowers bloom. Gardens are planted. Plastic comes off my windows. I should wash them, too. I should do a lot of things.

In the place of the plastic are the window screens.

I found quite a few in the basement this winter. Every window capable of being opened can have a screen this year. There is no reason NOT to have fresh air coursing through the house. Well, there is one. My neighbor to the south spread fresh mushroom compost around her plants in front of her house. I was going to fling my bedroom window open to the world tonight. Um...I'll wait until the weekend.

Beverage:  Yorkshire Gold tea

Deb

Hallo-weiners

For treats last night, I handed out mini Snickers and a few mini M&M's with peanuts. I started with the Snickers, of course, and kind of hoped there wouldn't be that many kids so I could have all the M&M's to myself. Why buy something that, if left over, you won't eat? There were 55 pieces in the bag and I had one Snickers. At the end of the night, I had given out 34 pieces including some M&M's. Oh well. I didn't need to eat ALL of these.

My neighborhood is usually quiet. There are a lot of little kids and families who come through on Halloween night. Junior high age kids just weren't out last night, nor were the young teenagers, except for 4 boys who probably wish they'd stayed home.

Trick or treating is from 4-7 in Wheaton. Most families are done by 6:15, however. You get the pre-teen or low teenagers who just wear what they have in their closet after 6:30 and I'm really not interesting in giving them anything so I turned off my light at 6:30. I hadn't made supper so I worked on that and, since I'd received a paycheck, it was time to pay the bills.

At around 7:15-ish, I heard yelling outside and the sound of people running up my driveway. Then came a crash. See, last night was garbage night, but because it's also Halloween, I decided not to drag the cans to the street. I had moved the recycling can, a dark blue plastic can with branches and a black can containing several garbage bags of cat litter (I completely emptied the litter boxes over the weekend. It was time to start fresh.) to the side of the house across the driveway to be moved at 10:30 before bed. From the sound, someone had collided with the recycling bin. But what were they doing running up my driveway?

I went outside and saw my neighbor from across the street holding on tightly to the hoodie of a boy. Two boys were picking themselves up off the ground having collided with the recycling bin and the black can, which, no, you really couldn't see in the dark. A fourth was standing, very self-consciously, in my neighbor's front yard. Her dogs were going nuts. My neighbor holding onto the boy was screaming at him, "Just what the hell do you think you were doing? You think you're so punk ass? I've got news for you, asshole." Um...yes. We were joined by another neighbor and the gal with the dogs who said, "I've called the cops." The look on the boys faces was sheer terror.

The police must have been within a block or two because it seemed like they were here instantly. One of the boys looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment. The officer asked what was the problem and my across the street neighbor said he'd caught these guys stomping on his pumpkins and tearing down his decorations. The other across the street neighbor chimed in that they'd hit his house, too. The officer turned to look at the boys and he really didn't need to ask. Might as well have had a neon "guilty" sign over their heads. But he inquired quietly and calmly, "Boys, did you do this?"

At this point, a car screeches to a halt in front of my house and a woman gets out. She comes running up to our happy little group screaming, "These are my kids! What are you doing? They didn't do anything! Leave them alone!" Another cop car has arrived and that officer runs over to us to try to intercept this woman. I started coughing and realized I was cold so I said I was going inside to get a coat. I came back out and the officer with the boys asks if my house had been damaged. I said, "No. They just chose to run up my drive and collided with my garbage cans." He said I didn't need to be out there then and he would knock when it was all over.

It took 30 minutes to sort everything out. The neighbor who had chased the boys down knocked on my door and said he'd take my cans to the street for me. He said the boys were from Glendale Heights, a suburb north of me. Mom had blurted out to the other officer that they had gotten in trouble with neighbors up there so she packed them into the car and drove them down here where they didn't know anyone. Um...yes. That is very smart parenting. She had dropped them off and then drove to Starbucks to get coffee. Yet another example of extremely good parenting. It seems as if these kids went around my area and if someone didn't answer the door, they smashed their decorations. One of the kids had a dozen eggs in the bottom of his bag.

The officers read the kids the riot act and chewed out the mother, my neighbor said. Then they took all the candy these boys had accumulated and gave it to the families who lost their decorations. My neighbor laughed that that, alone, was probably the worst thing that could have been done to these boys. They had been trick or treating all evening and had at least a third of a pillow case full of candy. Everyone was released and warned to clean up their act.

This morning, the garbage and recycling cans of everyone on my street had been tipped over. I had a lot of water bottles brought home from work in my can so I had to spend a good 20 minutes cleaning that up off the parkway and in my driveway. But that was better than the people across the street. Their garbage had been gotten into by raccoons or opossums and was strewn into the street.

This doesn't happen in my neighborhood. I do just chuckle when I think of the horror I saw on the face of one boy when Erica came out and announced she'd called the cops. In two weeks, we'll have forgotten this. I'm hoping they were scared enough that they'll never forget. They might have gotten a kick out of smashing pumpkins but they didn't count on a dad being close to the front door and being faster than they were.

Beverage:  Green tea

Deb

Debris

Before it got too hot outside on Saturday, I did some clean up.

I estimate at least 3 bags of yard waste in that pile.

I was able to hold onto the loppers and use them without pain in my hands. So, I cut back the one tree that was bent over the deck and trimmed back the tree branches which were covering the deck on the south side. Then, I went around the deck and trimmed back some of the brush that has grown up. I could only work the loppers for about an hour before my hands started to hurt, but I'm taking this as a good sign that I'm slowly getting better. There is a slight worry that I'll still have problems in the winter when I need to be able to shovel. No blizzard, please, this coming winter.

Zeke mowed the lawn Sunday morning and added to the pile. My neighbor to the north showed me a large branch that had snapped off the tree that is in the NW corner of my lot, where his meets mine. He's going to have it hauled away. Technically, it's not really in any danger of damaging anything other than his fence, and he's not all that concerned about the fence, but he said he'll hear it from his wife so he best get it done.

We noticed more small branches snapped off at the top of trees surrounding our houses. They aren't big and maybe the next strong wind will knock them down. Nature's fury, when viewed by the damage to the trees, is quite humbling.

It's supposed to be a reasonably nice weekend upcoming. This is good for the Ale Fest on Saturday, but I'm thinking I'd like to take down more of the volunteer trees I have around the property. I don't have the funds to get the stickers to have it hauled away, but I can make a pile and work at bagging up the debris when I have the cash for yard waste stickers. I felt a sense of accomplishment having done this much when I couldn't before.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest tea

Deb

Close to a Square

On day 12 of stitching, I can see the end of the square. I'd have done more except I couldn't get home. I stopped for gas and, as I was pulling up to my street, there were police and fire vehicles blocking the street. A less-than-helpful police officer told me I had to park and walk to my house. Further review showed that the emergency vehicles were not down by my drive so I could come from the north and pull in, but it took 15 minutes of trying to convince the police officer, even when I handed him my driver's license, that I did, in fact, live on the block and could get home. 

Neighbors are having their hardwood floors redone. The company doing the refinishing parked something by the side of their driveway. It ignited a tree between two lots. I guess flames shot straight up the tree. There is smoke damage to the house not having their floors redone. Had I not needed gas on the way home, I am told I would have seen the fire shoot up the tree. Thanks but some things I don't need to witness. So, that delayed me from stitching. 

Still, I'll have the square finished by week's end. Then on to the interior. I don't think I'll make my deadline for the completed item, but it will be close. 

Beverage:  Cranberry Pomegranate Juice

Deb

Free at last!

Sunday morning and I'm seriously thinking the gods or Mother Nature hate me. It snowed overnight.

Pretty much any other time, I'd be ooh-ing and ahh-ing. Today, I was cursing. 

It wasn't just a light dusting either. It was 3 friggin' inches. To say I was a bit disheartened is something of an understatement. 

But, I pulled on my socks, my pants, my sweater, grabbed my shovels, which I've left on the deck, and trudged out to the street, after sweeping off the Jeep. The task at hand was to widen the entry so it would be easy for anyone to get into and out of my drive. 

Add a three inch coating of fresh, fluffy snow and the plow having gone by and this wasn't going to be a quick 30 minute task. 

Slice off a bit and break it into chunks while around me came the whirr of snowblowers being fired up yet again. Nope. No one came to blow out what had fallen overnight and I knew they certainly weren't going to come help finish off this last little bit. Sorry if I don't acknowledge you when you drive by and wave. Actually, I'm not sorry. I'm too tired to acknowledge you. 

It took roughly 40 minutes to reduce this wedge to something reasonable. I stood in the street shoveling and forced people to slow down and to look. Yes, I'm feeling a mite peckish but this was quite ridiculous that no one, not one neighbor, offered to help, even for an hour. The best I got was an "I hope I can get my blower working, but my back won't let me help." 

Once this was done, I aimed for the mailbox. I knew I had to get this shoveled or the mailman wasn't going to deliver. "Neither snow, nor rain, nor dark of night" doesn't work after a blizzard. If they can't get to your mailbox, they don't deliver. That took another 45 minutes because this was through the 4 foot drift that went into a 3 foot drift. 

The path is wide enough for one person to walk easily. I got over to the front walk, but I was fast running out of energy. I cleared around the mailbox and removed mail from Thursday. It was all junk mail. I simply tossed all of it in the recycling can as I came inside. 

Then, I opened the front door and shoveled off the top of the steps and the first step. While shoveling, I heard the snow hit something odd. Looking north of the steps, I found this in the snow up against the house. 

I have no clue how long it's been in the snow, no clue on when it was delivered. I haven't gone anywhere since getting home on Tuesday. Only once was the doorbell rung and that was Thursday evening when that neighbor wanted to charge me $80 to shovel my drive. I found it here.

The box was rather soggy and there was a slight rattle to it. I'll post tomorrow (Monday) what was inside. 

After one hour and 45 minutes, the drive was opened, a path carved to the mailbox and the top and first step of the front steps shoveled. I was beat.

The best part of all of this, tossing those clothes down the laundry chute.

It has snowed off and on all day now. The plow has gone by a dozen times tonight. I haven't looked to see how much more we got. Part of me is a bit scared to find out it might be more than 4 inches. But, 6 or under, I'm just driving through. 

I'm taking a day off from shoveling. Then, on Tuesday, I will go out the front and liberate the last 2 steps on the front and start the slow process of shoveling the sidewalk. I'm only going to work for a half hour every day. I missed 2 days of work so I have to work overtime to get things done. 

It has been quite the adventure. I'd rather not repeat it this year. 

The view from the street. Today's paper was delivered, much to my surprise.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Another 10-12 feet. It's hard to tell.

Another morning and I'm outside with the shovel at 9:30. I'm going to get as far as I can before cold or aches get to me. The postman lumbered through yesterday afternoon but I've decided my focus is simply to get the drive open. Once that is done, I can work on other things like shoveling to the front.

I've had exactly one neighbor express concern and a wish to help. Zeke's snow blower died. It was old, he said, and it couldn't handle this much snow. He said his back won't let him shovel. He was going to work on the blower last night and if he could get it running, would be over today to help me. There was no sign of him this morning so I'm guessing the machine has gone to the great parts dump in the sky. I appreciate his expression of concern even if I knew, inside, he wasn't going to be over today.

I can only work for an hour and a half now before my back and upper legs start to ache. Today, however, I found a sock combination that keeps my toes warm which, had my muscles not complained, would have allowed me to keep going longer. In fact, I'm a bit overdressed. I had to take off the heavy gloves and unzip the jacket. I'm wearing the same 2 pairs of pants, tee shirt and sweater I've worn since Wednesday. Why continually change? I don't shower until 5.

Temperatures are warming up. It was -4 when I went out and, as noon approaches, it's a balmy 15 degrees. It's to be warmer this weekend, with some snow showers. That will mean melting although there was melting yesterday in the single digit temperatures. That means the lower layer will be heavier as it's more frozen. "You need to get that shoveled before it freezes," a couple people have said to me. "And you're coming over to help, right?" I ask. Then there are excuses or just plain laughter. Yes, I'm a might touchy but don't be telling me I have to get my drive shoveled when I still have roughly 45-50 feet to the street if you're not going to grab a shovel and come help.

The snow is breaking off in great chunks now.

I shave a chunk off and then cut it into smaller chunks. I'm using a two shovel approach. I have one of those bent-handle shovels but it's not the best for shaving off the next batch to be moved. I use the straight-handled shovel for that and for breaking the chunk down. Then I use the bent-shovel to toss the snow onto a pile. That seems to be easier on my back and legs. As I said yesterday, this would be fantastic snow fort snow. If I wasn't so tired...

After an hour and a half, the street is closer. 

I think I'm through the deepest part of the drift. It appears to be the same depth to the street. I don't know if I will make it out by Monday. I hope so. I have one more vacation day I can use. 

I'm almost out of milk but thanks to last weekend and Wednesday, I have pancakes and waffles I can eat for breakfast. There is always oatmeal. I made bacon cheeseburgers and fries for supper last night. I'm good. I changed litter yesterday afternoon which made the girls happy. Pilchard goes to the back door, looks out and meows. I'm tempted to leave the door open so I can reinforce that "my cats don't go outside in this". 

The front is going to have to wait.

I'm too tired to attempt that right now. As I'm out there, I'm thinking about the 1967 blizzard everyone compared this one to. Back then, people didn't have snow blowers. This shoveling had to be done by hand. If you lived alone, as I do, well, you hoped people would understand at the office. I kind of feel a sense of kinship with my ancestors for whom moving snow this way was the only way to do it. I go a little at a time, rest, and go back at it. I am not taking for granted that anyone will show up to help with the job. There was one guy who came by yesterday. He would shovel me out for $80. I didn't laugh. I politely declined. 

But you know what I'm craving right now? Dr Pepper. I'm trying to cut way back on my soda consumption and, of course, the one thing I'd love is a soda, ice cold. 

Beverage:  Blackberry Sage tea

Deb

It's actually quite pleasant outside.

When I awoke, it was -12. This does not bode well for another day of digging out. I'm wearing 2 pair of socks, 2 pair of pants, a tee shirt, a heavy sweater and my Iowa Hawkeye jacket. I managed to get a thin pair of gloves inside the other pair. The hard part is keeping the ear muffs over the ears. Today, I tried an Iowa Hawkeyes stocking cap. That seemed to work.

The task this morning was to get from the Jeep past the southeast corner of the house. This is the view.

This is going to be the easiest shoveling as the snow isn't as deep here. As I worked east, I discovered it was only a foot deep in some places. There was a 2 foot drift next to the house. That was going to take a bit of work. 

This is interesting snow. It's perfect for chopping into blocks to build a snow fort. You would start with a drift like the one across my front yard. 

Once you've hollowed out a circle, you can easily cut this snow into blocks. It just sort of falls that way anyway. I shave off a chunk, cut it into blocks, then scoop and toss. 

It will stack easily and stay stacked. Some people will take a hose and hose down the sides of the fort once it's built. But that's only appropriate if the neighbor kids built one, too. I'm kind of tempted to build a fort or part of one once I head toward the front door. 

It's really nice outside. It's warmed up to 14 degrees and there's little to no wind. If there was still a gale out there, this would be completely miserable. I had to come in after 2 hours because my feet get cold. I'm wearing heavy socks but they still get cold. One of my neighbors came by and said his snow blower died yesterday. He and another neighbor are going to look at it tonight and he hopes they can fix it so he can come over tomorrow and help. 

I got farther than I planned. 

I need to clean litter boxes so I might not make it back out, but I am encouraged. Even if the neighbor can't get his blower going, it's not that hard to shovel. It might take me all weekend but I can do this. 

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

Snow-what?

Carole mentioned in an email to me that the section of Connecticut where she lives has had, so far this winter, nearly 50 inches of snow. They awoke to another 16-18 inches this morning which may mean they are approaching the 5 feet of snow mark. And to think it sort of "started" on Monday, November 8th when I was leaving to head back to Illinois after my visit.

This was wet stuff, almost half water.

Carole took this photo of their snow. This is to the left of my photo above. It was taken over the weekend, and doesn't reflect the latest dumping.

She uses some photo technique so this does look like a watercolor. The tree to the left in my photo is the tree to the right in hers.

It's snowing right now as I type this. We aren't to get dumped on as the NE US did, but it is a snowy January, snowier than most in recent years. As I was searching for photos of my sister, I came upon photos of another January 30 years ago. It was January, 1971, and this was the day after a blizzard.

This is the road that runs North South in front of the farm, which is off camera to the right. To the left is a gently rolling hill with nothing to stop a snowstorm coming out of the west northwest. The neighbor to the south of us had a front end loader on his tractor so he plowed his drive and then a single track down to us and plowed our drive.

I believe this is the storm that caused my mother to call one of the county commissioners and chew him out for not even attempting to plow our road up to us. We heard, from people to the north, that the plow made it to the farm on the other side of the visible woods, got into those woods and turned around because of deep snow. We were without power for three days, but we had ample supplies of wood for the furnace, and gas for the gas stove. Dad was working in Waukon at the time. He attempted to get home but turned back because the roads were impassible. The plow had opened the road within 24 hours of the snow ending but hadn't come back to finish the job to us and our neighbor.

Within 12 hours of her angry phone call, we heard the plow. It wasn't an easy job, to be sure. He had to dig the road open; he couldn't shove the snow to the side because there was no place for it. He was followed by a dump trunk that hauled the snow away. When they got to our neighbors, they carved a place to turn around and then worked at widening the road instead of pushing it all the way south to the main highway. They knew what they were up against. It would be 3 more days before the road was successfully opened to the highway, a 2 mile length from our house.

This is what the snow hill looked like across from the entry to our farm.

They had not shoved that bank up that high. This was the height of the drift coming off the hill. That's a 1968 Chevy van, the first year Chevy made passenger vans. That's my brother, Steve, standing on the top of the drift.

This wasn't the worst January snow that I remember. In 1968, out of the available 20 days for school, we had 7 and not all together. I can't find pictures of that snow. I didn't get my own camera until later so I don't know if we used mom's Brownie to take photos. I'll have to look at the photo dates to see if it was Christmas 1969 or 1970 when I took over family photographer.

So, as we battle feet of snow, I am reminded of the storm of 30 years ago. I think we missed only a week of school from this one. It's supposed to be in the 30's tomorrow. I haven't shoveled the snow from the last storm. I have to shovel both of them now. I printed the lyrics to my favorite snow song last year. It's playing in my head right now. I have a craving for pizza and a malted for supper tonight, and a good book and a couple of purring cats.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest Tea

Deb

What I Hated About Christmas This Year

It was not the snow, the wonderful, powdery snow of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was the kind of snow that Hollywood created at the end of the movie "White Christmas". It was the kind of snow Irving Berlin wrote the song "(I'm Dreaming of a) White Christmas" about.

It was not my friends. One of them blessed me a hundred times over with a gift that has left me humbled beyond words.

It was not the neighbor who came over and blew out the driveway apron even after he'd put his snowblower away on Sunday. I would have shoveled the apron. I would have gone slowly and it would have been cleared. But it took 10 minutes instead of 45, which meant my whole morning wasn't spent shoveling snow.

It was not the two members of my World of Warcraft guild, Amber and Bill, who spent real money to get me in-game items that have no real value other than they are cool. Likewise, I do not hate the son-in-law who spent real money to get me in-game items that I am going to have incredible fun with.

I do not hate the daughter who called late on Christmas Eve and talked to me into Christmas morning (technically) because "calling mom on Christmas is important". Yes, I was still up anyway.

I do not hate being alone on Christmas. There is a time and a place for the hectic life of holiday rushing. I have reached the age where being alone is just as good as being with my family although I really would have liked to have seen Brett and Blake's face when my mother handed them a gift they were not expecting. While it may sound weird, there is great comfort in the quiet and being with the cats, reading the newspapers I didn't get to and having a big, black cat complaining that not enough ear scratching was going on.

What I hate about Christmas was BOTH living room lights burning out in the evening, one after the other. They are 3-way lights and of course I don't have extra of those bulbs. So, at lunch, I head over to the grocery to get new bulbs. I am presented with a dizzying array of choices in light bulbs. None of the compact fluorescent or the "long-life" seems to work in a 3-way lamp. I am forced to buy conventional bulbs. At least they were inexpensive.

I came home and replaced the bulbs. We now have lights in the living room.

When you live with a black cat, no lights in the living room is NOT a good thing.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Night and Day

It snowed all day yesterday. I wouldn't characterize it as a "pounding" as had been predicted. It was a beautiful, gentle snow, a Christmas snow.

I went out about 10 p.m. to see what I could capture with the camera. Most of the photos are blurry. This is the best. The city plow was going by on the left. Our neighborhood put up luminarias on Christmas Eve. We've been doing this for, gee, I don't know how long. The couple who have organized this have their house for sale now so this may be the last year unless someone wants to take it over. A non-profit sells luminarias every Christmas. It's their big fund-raiser. You just have to supply the sand or other item that goes in the bottom to hold the candle and anchor the bag. When we did it, I would use kitty litter.

It was a lovely, still, quiet evening. Someone was piping Christmas music into the street which  kind of seemed surreal, but I just stood for awhile and listened to the sound of falling snow.

Today, it's been quiet too, with little street traffic. You could hear the sounds of snowblowers occasionally. It's warm that had I decided to shovel, the walk might have cleared. But I decided to just let the snow be.

It's warm enough that it's melting. It's always so dramatic with the black lines of the trees and the white of the snow and the sky. There will be time enough tomorrow to resume life. It's enough today to just be.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb