Winter - No Wonderland

Winter is here, I know - my hands and feet are turning white especially when I'm outdoors. My home is cold (conserving oil)so they get white indoors too. The only time I'm comfortable is after I'm in bed for about a half hour and have begun to warm up. I think an electric blanket might be in my future. I don't want to be a complainer, but winter brings out the worst in me. Despite all that, I do bundle up and take one of my cats outdoors for a romp almost everyday. He doesn't mind the cold and loves to be outside. He has a tantrum when I bring him in after 15-20 minutes. He also waits for an opportunity to sneak out whenever the door is opened. Someday he'll trip me, and I'll break an arm or a leg or drop a dozen eggs all over the place. Then there's snow: wet, cold, sticky, slippery, miserable snow. We shovel, we sand, we use kitty litter but it still melts a little in the sun and freezes after dark, and in the morning the stairs, driveway, and roads are perilous. The high winds will blow you down the street, mess up your hair and chill you to the bones. At night when it freezes again the lids on trash cans become frozen tight and sometimes car doors freeze shut. If the snowfall is heavy and wet it can be very difficult to shovel and remove. Then there's the time after the snow - in a few days it becomes dirty, Is there any good in all this? Well, freshly fallen snow is beautiful especially at night. The moon shines on it on the ground and on leafless trees giving everything a mystical appearance. The little kids like snow to play in, and those a bit older like it because school is usually canceled for safety reasons (giving them an extra day to get that report done, or study for a test). Snow falling on a night with a full moon (or 3 quarters)looks erie and amazing as the moon or street light catch the snowflakes en route to the earth. Of course scientists tell us that no 2 snowflakes are alike, but I don't know how they could prove that. I read an article about it once, but I didn't really understand all of it and retained even less. Icicles are also pretty amazing as they form along the edges of houses, trees, power lines, tall buildings etc. Another thing that happens is that the air during and after a snowfall seems so fresh and clean as though dust, germs, pollutants and odors have been washed away by the snow. Sometimes the snow appears to have a slight bluish tint at night (a little bit even in the daytime too)gleaming and sparkling. But no matter how beautiful it might appear, if there is way too much 10-12 inches it's just overwhelming when trying to clean it up and if it's a wet snow it can be so heavy that some roofs will collapse or be damaged, most likely older roofs. Then it becomes dangerous and expensive to repair. I'm sure there are many more positive and negative comments that could be made, but this is all I can think of this evening. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what I've missed.

Skunks, Hurricanes and Politics

Here I am back at the blog.  It's late and I'm tired and ready to go to sleep.  A skunk just sprayed my yard and with the windows open the atmosphere is not so good.  I looked out and saw him and yelled "bad skunk, no no no"  and he ran under the shed.  I really didn't want to scare him, but I really didn't want to smell skunk spray either.  Maybe it will rain and wash away the spray.

I've also been watching the weather forecasts about Hurricane Isaac.  He's making mischief in FL where my daughter lives.  It's also the site for the Republican convention, but I sort of hope a hurricane hits them.  Not nice, I know, but I get so frustrated with the narrow minded thinking, and their hostility toward women.  They want to control women and have a blast for themselves.  I don't like that and I don't like them.  Ooops can you guess that I'm a liberal??  I think we need some major changes in the way our government works.   For example we should get rid of the electoral college and the idea that one vote can carry a whole state such as FL where they're so incompetent that they can't even count the votes right.   Another change is that the House of  Rep. needs to be watched.  On Sixty Minutes they explained their health program (totally free), their lifetime parking places even if they only serve one term.  And that they have some kind of special pension plan that they receive even if they end up in jail for crimes like taking bribes.  Sure they suffer embarrassment, but the pension eases the pain considerably.  Of course there are more examples, but the point is that as long as the inmates (ie congresssmen) can control stuff like that they have no incentive to do things right.  The senators and the reps. also receive full salary even if they miss more than half of the sessions.  Of course none of this is new, but it does bother me.   I wonder how many people in America actually know that George Bush Jr. lost the popular vote, meaning that more people voted for Al Gore than for Bush, but because of the electoral college he lost the election.  Admittedly that doesn't happen very often, but once is too much in a country that considers itself a democracy where voting is  a sacred privilege and a responsibility.  The reason  for the Electoral College  no longer exists.  It should be eliminated.  The points and the winner take all should only apply to the votes, not to carrying the state.  And if you don't know what this is all about as you read this, you should take the time to study it, online is easiest, but the libraries have the info too.  I hope we can have a fair election this time.

Still Waiting

Preparations for the approaching  hurricane known as Irene are pretty well complete.  We didn't buy a second sump pump just in case the one in use dies on us.  But that one is less than 3 yrs old so it should be OK.  However if the power fails and the rain continues and is heavy we could be out of luck. But there is little I can do at this time.  I will check for water once more before I go to bed. I probably should have bought some more mops for cleanup.  If you live in low lands that once were wetlands, but have been pumped dry and developed as housing complexes you know what I'm talking about.  Otherwise I could explain, but I think you get the idea.  So a lot depends on how much rain, how fast, and how good the drainage is.  Water in the basement is not a new problem for this house.  From the first year we moved in up to last year when the old pump died just before a heavy rain. We didn't discover it until after the rain flooded the basement.  The cleanup was exhausting.  We had 2 houses to do that time.  That could happen again with the heavy rains from a hurricane.  Fortunately we don't get many hurricanes in New England maybe one every 10 - 15 years.  Snow storms are
more common, but I don't know which is worse.  They both can disrupt, travel, traffic, schools, and roads with debris (snow or electric lines, or buildings in the road).  I think the degree of damage is most important in either case.  So although I'm not really worried because worry doesn't prevent anything unless it motivates you to action, I am thinking about previous hurricanes, and what else I can do.  At this point I think I've done all I can.  Now I must wait and see.  So I'll post again after Miss Irene has left CT.  On the local news it was reported that we have not had a hurricane hit New England since Hurricane Bob which was  maybe 20 years ago.  I think that is odd (just for me) because my mother's middle name was Irene and she died last year.  Do you think she's sending me something to remember her by?  I wonder.  I could think of something a little less dramatic.

Earth Quake

So the news says we've had an earthquake.  Here in New England - CT to be more specific there was a small rumble, but I didn't notice anything.  As a lover of thunder and lightening storms I like to think that I'd be pretty calm about a small earth quake, but I'm not so sure about that.  Earth quakes are different from storms in many ways, but the main difference that I see is that we seldom get any warning about an earth quake and if we did where would we go?  According to the news reports the east coast has large plates of solid bedrock so an earth quake in the east will most certainly be felt throughout many states as it was yesterday.  There is no where to go.  It does make for interesting news coverage though.  All the news programs and the lighter ones like Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight had coverage and personal stories of the encounter.  Of course Nightline had coverage as well but that is a little more serious. I would guess that anyone living near a nuclear power plant would be very concerned.  But  since there is little one can do to escape, prevent or prepare for an earth quake, worrying seems a bit useless.  I like the stories about the animals who seemed to know something was happening just before it hit.  Did they try to save their people no just tried to make a getaway.  Maybe they are smarter than we are.