The First Day Of Spring

Well, this is a day that's always a happy one for me, when spring gets here.

Break out the bunnies! And the crocuses! And the feeling that newness is in the air!

It's been a tough winter, very tough. And expensive for snow removal, even if the heating bill has been about average or a little under the usual. The sun, though, turns out to be the best snow remover ... and it doesn't cost a thing, if you're willing to wait for it to get around to it.

Yippee! We're there! Officially!

My Snuggie

I'm sitting here in a Snuggie, half of me.

Someone gave me one as a gift, completely unexpectedly. So I'm trying it out.

Mine is a little longer than it needs to be and the sleeves are more expansive than they need to be. But I've got them pulled back.

It seems to me that a good old fashioned bathrobe would do the trick about as well, except it wouldn't cover your legs. The whole idea of having the back completely open doesn't appeal to me. I'm not on a couch but on a regular wooden chair.

I normally (in the winter) wear some kind of long john pants under my pants, like a jogging suit, but I didn't do it today. So I've been colder than I like most of the day.

Snuggie. It's all the rage. I wouldn't have bought one. But if someone gives you one, that's how to get one.

The Crazy Wind

We're suffering with winter here.

The wind is crazy. Somehow they know a day or so ahead of time that it's going to be ferocious, and it usually is.

I went out to the store at the edge of town and the wind, which knows the difference between town and country, was a lot worse out there. I was freezing.

Also one of the doors on my car is frozen shut. I just hope they don't all freeze. I'll have to use a hair dryer on it if they all freeze.

The snow is blowing. It's a crazy kind of night. But right now I'm in and warm. Don't go out on a night like this!

An Ice Storm

We're about to enter another Ice Age, starting tonight, in the land where I live.

According to the map and "Weather In Motion," the Ice cometh, no mention of the Iceman.

So if anyone thinks of it, tonight would be a good night to set the ice trays outside. Hey, free ice!

Do I want this extreme weather? No, not really. But what can I do about it?

I just hope we're OK, that power lines stay up where they're supposed to. That it's not so thick that limbs start falling. And that people don't plow into each other when they lose traction. I've had some of that problem driving around and it's not all that icy, just the snow melting and refreezing. It's still ice, but it's got sand and salt from previous passings of the city guys mixed with it. What comes out of the sky tonight will be pure and indiscriminate.

If it happens, again, there's nothing I can do about it. Just stay in and stay safe. I stocked up on groceries.

By morning I shall see. What if it's "Icy as far as I See?" Ha ha.

Wind Chill

It was supposed to be warmer today -- and the temperature did get up there, in the 20s. But the big problem was the wind chill. Even though it was warmer technically, it still felt drastically cold.

I was out at the edge of town, where the snow blows freer, and the countryside has that whole wasteland look going. It seemed like a terrible day to be out. I wasn't wearing gloves and had to carry out some groceries. My poor hands started getting instantly cold before I got to the car.

I looked over at the fields and saw the snow in constant turmoil and thought how fast a person would freeze if he started across there, and especially when you got out of sight of civilization. That would simply be it. It wouldn't be like in Doctor Zhivago, where he's walking across snowy fields and somehow survives. You don't survive that kind of thing.

Fortunately I didn't need to put this theory to the test. Because I got in my car, got it going, and headed home. I have survived yet another day. Another day that I can say, with some assurance, that I didn't freeze to death!

Waiting For Winter's Worst

When you know winter's worst is on the way, it's like a death sentence. I think, because I've never actually been sentenced to death. Except in the same sense that everyone else has, someday, some way.

Winter's worst ... You never quite remember how terrible the brunt of winter's worst is until it happens again. I know in the summer, winter's like a nasty memory. I'll be walking around with a short sleeved shirt in the summer, and winter's far from my mind. Summer has its own problems, namely bugs.

Winter is the deadly season. A couple years ago we could've easily died on the road. It was as snowy, blustery, cold, and crazy as any day I'd ever seen. We were going 5 mph on the highway at times, and having a hard time seeing the road at that. It was simply the craziest thing I'd ever experienced. Then, fortunately, out of some kind of weird luck, we found a little hole-in-the-wall motel that was like Paradise in light of the situation. The big problem was what we would do in the morning. And it was so cold, it looked like one of my tires was going flat. A mechanic told me they sometimes do that. But we made it fine the next day, with the wind abated.

It's different when you're at home, which I am now. Then it's just a matter of waiting for it to do its worst and dig out.

Oh, one other complication, I have a dog that needs to go out, like dogs do, several times a day. That means many additional obstacles and misery.

But hopefully we shall all survive it. Like we have before.

My Dog's Feet - Part 2

When we last met, my dog didn't do her business outside last night. So this morning of course there was some pee on the floor. She's self-trained in this and does the right thing, meaning when she has to go she does it on the kitchen or dining room floor, which are linoleum and not carpet. That's a big favor.

Today when it was 20 below zero I was thinking she wouldn't need to go out. Just do it on the floor. But she's so used to going out that she kept that thought going. After quite a bit of that, I took her out on the sidewalk, no booties, but it was way too cold and she came right back in without doing anything.

After a while I went for the baby socks we have, which have a bit of Velcro on them, got them on and took her out. She did her thing very well and we came hustling back to the warmth.

Then at 1 p.m., the same successful story. Then close to 5 p.m., I thought, how about put some plastic wrap around her feet, then the baby socks would go on better. And that turned out to be so (but not as easy as I was hoping). We were out a sufficient amount of time for her to do her thing well and not get too cold. So that's all the counts.

I hate to see her out there suffering, prancing around in pain. So the baby socks are fine.

My Dog's Feet

It's too cold out -- 14 below or something -- for my dog to go to the bathroom. I've taken her out twice. Once without booties, because she hates them. Then her feet get so cold, she's at a loss what to do. So I pick her up and run her home.

Then after a while I decided to put the booties on. But then I get her outside in the cold and she refuses to budge. Just stands there and looks at me. Won't go pee.

Growl, that's me growling. So she'll have to go on the floor tonight. We can't stay out there forever.