Finally, a normal winter in Missouri

The past two winters have been rough ones.  Lots of snow, single-digit temperatures that would not let up. That isn't normal.  Usually we'll have a couple of two- to four-inch snows in a winter, and several times when the ground will be barely covered; around here, it's hardly worth investing in a sled for the kiddies.  There will normally be a few frigid days followed by a warmup into the fifties or sixties:  That's when those of us with motorcycles will sneak in a ride and say we cheated winter.  Of course, on those unseasonably warm winter days, the same wind that blew the warm front in is often still blowing so hard that a motorcycle ride isn't that pleasant, so we make it a brief ride.  
During the past two winters there were no motorcycle rides; not a single one.  
Right now it's a frigid fifteen degrees with a forecast high of thirty-seven; there's a promise of temperatures in the fifties in a couple of days.  
A normal winter.  
For the past three years, at some point in January I've bought little seed-starting kits and started my pepper and tomato plants in the house.  The first year it was great fun.  The second year, it was OK.  Last year it was drudgery, toting those trays around the house to the best sunny spot.  
I had a reason for doing it, though.  Most of the places where I had always bought my plants no longer had the economical little six-packs.  Walmart and Colonial Nursery only had single plants or two-packs of half-grown plants, and they were pricey.  
Last year I discovered that Hilltop Farm and Greenhouse was selling the six-plant packs.  I'm counting on them this year, so I hope they don't let me down.  I'm hoping for a better garden than I had last year.  What with the knee replacement and a bad tomato season, it was pitiful.  I think I only had borscht one time, and no ratatouille at all.   

I opened a drawer yesterday looking for an owner's manual for a clock (long story) and found these yellowed old spelling tests from 1997.  My oldest grandson came to my house after school back then, and I went over his spelling words with him ever single day.  He got a lot of good spelling grades during that time.  He's supposed to be here today; I'm going to ask him if he remembers how I made him practice his words till he got them right.  


I ought to have a good day today; for the first time in months, I slept straight through the night for seven hours.  

storm report

We weathered Snowmagedon, as they've labeled this storm.  It indeed lived up to its hype, at least in my neck of the woods.  I'll get out later and take some pictures of the drifts.  Some of them are huge, from what I can see outside in the dark with just the porch light shining.  I can only guess at the snowfall totals, thanks to the drifting; but we're thinking we got at least ten inches.  Locations to the east got even more.    
I-70 was closed across the state.  Cliff's place of employment never has snow days, but they had one yesterday and are having another one today.  Road crews couldn't work because visibility was zero, thanks to the blowing snow.  
I've actually enjoyed watching this storm outside my window and on television, although the fact that my sister-in-law's car is sitting in a ditch five miles from home is sort of a downer.  Cliff and the grandson, Arick, went to her rescue and got her home.  Cliff said he had never seen anything like it, with no way to see the road, and big drifts everywhere.  Rena works for one of those places that really doesn't care what happens to their employees; they expect them to show up.  They sent them home three or four hours early yesterday, but only because the highway in front of the place was being closed.      
My daughter spent last night at a motel near her work location; I'm glad, because even though her car gets around well in the snow, it's small, and would never have cleared the drifts; Cliff said Arick's big four-wheel-drive pickup barely plowed through some of them.
Looking at our ten-day forecast on weather.com, I see little hope for a real warmup in the immediate future.

Meanwhile, I leave you with this view from my sister's porch in Texas.  This was taken in February, the last time I visited her at her winter home.  The bad news is, upon checking the forecast down there, I see the temperature is supposed to get down to 28 tonight.  I wonder what that will do to her grapefruit tree?  It's supposed to warm up to the 70's there by this weekend.  

Everybody talks about the weather...

This winter has been terrible.  I have never been so sedentary for so long a stretch.  Yesterday the Fox 4 weatherman said that in the average January and February, we have twenty-four days when the temperature gets above fifty; this year, we've had only two such days.  
Those brief, warmer spells are the times Cliff and I normally bundle up and go for a motorcycle ride.  It's those times that get us through the winters and keep our spirits up.  The motorcycle hasn't been out of the garage in months.  In fact, I believe late November was the last time we rode.
I certainly hope this year isn't setting some sort of trend for the upcoming winters.  
So, we surf the Internet.  Cliff plans the work he'll do on his Oliver tractor, I plan my next garden.  We discuss possible vacation plans, and weekend trips we hope to take this summer.  
Regarding yesterday's entry about Blue:  I finally understand what people mean when they talk about "closure".  In composing that entry, I realized that I hadn't allowed myself to grieve properly.  Sharing my thoughts with the world brought my feelings to the surface, feelings I was keeping buried.  Indeed,  it gave me closure, as painful as it was.  I thank you for all your kind words.  

pictures from today

Beyond that Corps of Engineers building is the Missouri River, pretty much covered in ice.

Taken in my back yard this afternoon: Smoke from the Sibley Power plant forming an interesting design in the distant sky.

This is what 131 looked like this morning, as we headed toward Odessa.

The piles of snow that snowplows had pushed up beside the road were as tall as our pickup.

We went to get some Muck Boots for Cliff; unfortunately, most sizes were sold out and we left empty-handed (empty-footed?).

Cliff spent lots of money at Clark's Tool, buying an Ingersall-Rand Needle Scaler. Don't ask me what that is; all I know is, Cliff is very happy with it. And since he used money from his tractor fund, I'm happy too.

The end.

I got brave enough to take Sadie for a walk

It's bitter cold, but Sadie and I both had cabin fever today. I'm the poster child, you know, for S.A.D.; and I really needed to get out in the fresh air. It took all the effort I could summon up, believe me.

I left with the intention of avoiding the drifts, but that was impossible. I knew I wouldn't walk the full distance we always do, because it's very hard to walk with boots and coveralls on. I glanced down in a "holler" and realized if I went down there, I'd be out of the wind. I descended into the quiet woods; it was, indeed, quite pleasant there. Sadie found a stick and I threw it for her several times.

And then I realized that I was going to have to climb up out of there, through the snow. That's when it hit me that I'm sixty-five years old, and if I'm going to do stupid things like this I should take the cell phone along; I could have a heart attack!

Then I remembered there's no signal down in the holler anyhow.

I consoled myself with the knowledge that at least there was snow on the ground, so Cliff could track me and find my cold, dead corpse.

Oh wait, with the wind blowing so hard, tracks fill in about as quickly as they're made.

Evidently the freezing rain last night coated the path before snow fell, because I'd take one step up and slide back down two. Puffing and panting, I'd sit down in the snow until I got my breath, with Sadie poking a stick in my face trying to get me to throw it. Once I got my breath, I'd proceed with my ordeal.

That may not look like much of a hill to you, but you should have seen my struggle; it was nothing short of heroic!

Finally I got over to the side of the trail and pulled myself up by those brushy plants you see on the right. Looking down, the slope seems more formidable, doesn't it?

I won't be taking that walk again; not in the snow.

My knees are killing me.

It's that time of year

I notice I don't have half as many updated blogs to read lately. Everyone seems to suffer a slump this time of year.

Even my own blog bores me silly. Let's face it, when you're reduced to blogging about Medicare and the stocking caps you own, it's a desperate situation.

Cliff and I do take our daily walk, covering our mouths and faces in the coldest weather. Sadie doesn't even notice the temperature, but romps and chases after sticks as usual. I could tell you stories about her (with illustrations or videos) but it's all been done and seen before.

I take my camera everywhere, but nothing seems camera-worthy. The landscape is dull brown; the sun doesn't shine. I'd love some snow, but I'm not optimistic that we'll get enough to brag about.

Cliff, who could never understand my preoccupation/addiction to the Internet in the past, spends four hours at a time on the laptop surfing Craigslist and Yesterday's Tractors. What else can one do when it's this cold? He went to clear brush Saturday, but his feet got numb after an hour or so. Yesterday I said to him, "That laptop is a nice little time-passer, isn't it?"

And he agreed.

Today we went to Sam's Club, Cliff, Rena and I. I didn't need a thing; I just wanted to do something outside this house. I bought some oranges and strawberries, hoping those would give me a taste of sunshine.

Rena treated us to lunch at Smokestack Barbecue; I ordered fried cauliflower and made it my entire meal: I love that stuff!

Time does drag, this time of year. I guess at my age, that's a good thing; might as well make what's left of my life stretch out a little longer.

I'm going to sit down with my guitar and sing a few folks songs and ramble down memory lane. Perhaps I'll conjure up some long-forgotten tale from my past.

There's lots of blues in Blogville

After reading over this entry, I realize it may sound a little "preachy", which isn't my usual style. Consider yourself warned: some of my readers may want to skip this one.

We're having a genuine winter here in Missouri, with very few breaks between the cold spells. I count my blessings daily, and they are many; but I confess that it's sometimes hard to stay chipper on these bitterly frigid days, with all the extra bills that come flooding in at this time of year. Add to that the rising price of gasoline, propane and groceries.

I've noticed, while surfing through my favorite blogs, that I'm not the only one who's a little "down in the dumps".

When I open my Bloglines each morning, there aren't half as many new entries as there normally are. And I've added a lot of new blogs lately, so there should be more than in the past.

This doesn't help the situation: Cliff and I hear of the death of somebody we care about every week or so, of late. I realize that goes with the territory when you're past sixty years old, but it isn't a thing a person gets used to. We had a discussion yesterday about how it could be either of us next, at any moment. The older we get, the more likely it is that our number will be up.

As a Christian, I believe in life on the other side of the grave. But as a human, I'm in no hurry to leave this poor, battle-scarred body.

Cliff and I used to laugh at my mom who, in her eighties, after being widowed for the second time, would sometimes say with a sigh, "Why can't I just die?"

But at the first tornado watch of spring, she was running to the basement.

I can imagine myself in her shoes nowadays.

Spring will come again. Chances are, I'll have several more weeks, months, or even years to share my life with my friends through my blogs.

The best I can do is to take this day and live it to the fullest.

For this day, I can try not to be judgmental (which is probably my worst fault). I can do my best to see troubled people the way Jesus saw them when He walked the earth... the way He still sees us, I'm sure: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

In the words of the old song: "Life's evening sun is sinking low; a few more days and I must go."

Back to 2008...

In winter, I tend to blog about old times because there's so little to write about when you're holed up in the house. It's even been so cold we've skipped our daily walk in the pasture a couple of times. Yesterday the dog and I went after Cliff left for work at 2:30. It was 18°, which was the high for the day, I believe.

You can only write so much about the antics of the dog or your trips to Wal-Mart before it gets to be old hat; hence, my entries with old pictures and letters.

I have enjoyed finding a few new bloggers, thanks to my wintertime surfing. I've found a couple of you with whom I have real-life friends in common; and this morning I'm pretty sure I found the blog of a great-nephew's sister-in-law. It's an interesting blog, too!

I used to have problems with S.A.D. (wintertime depression); not so much now, with the Internet to keep me busy. I used to read a lot of books. Now I read blogs instead.

To all of my new readers, welcome. I'm glad some of you enjoy my strolls down memory lane. Once the weather's nice, you won't see those so much. Instead, you'll be regaled with tales of our adventures in motorcycle riding, or my horseback rides down to the Missouri River. I'll probably be sharing videos of my calves running, or even a video that takes you on a horseback ride with me.

I'll be reading your blogs and, through them, getting to know you better.

Please come quickly, springtime

(Click on the picture for a wintery view of the Missouri River bottom)

Cliff and I usually take a daily walk in our pasture. It's the only place I feel free to turn my dog, Sadie, loose. When she sees another dog, she's gone. And goes totally deaf to my calling her. So I keep her leashed on our trips in the yard, because we live right on a gravel road, and within spitting distance of a highway (albeit a minor one).

She does sometimes sight a fox, some birds, and yes, an occasional dog, out in the pasture. But the likelihood of her running across a highway and meeting her death while chasing after them (like my last dog, Mandy) is much less at the back of the place; and it's her only taste of freedom, so I take that small risk. So far, she has always returned to my side after her brief forays into the unknown.

This winter has really cramped our style, not to mention Sadie's. In the past, we've headed out in any temperature. We'd put on layers, cover our faces, and go. But as we age, we find it more difficult. So when it's ten degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 20 or so, we skip the walk.

Then there's the ice and snow factor. We wear sneakers for our walk, and they aren't the best thing in snow. Some of the slopes we walk on still have ice, in spots, from a month ago... ice which is now covered with newer snow, so we can't see it to avoid it. It's camouflaged.

I'm hoping today (if there's school, so the granddaughters aren't here) that we can perhaps get out and walk along the roadside, with Sadie on her leash and halti. I feel so much better when we can take a half-hour walk. But if we can't, at least the end of this frigid weather is in sight. In a week, they're forecasting temperatures in the fifties, possibly even the sixties.

With temps in the forties, I can comfortably ride my horse. In the mid-fifties, Cliff and I can ride the motorcycle. And of course, we can once again take our accustomed walks with Sadie.

I've seen rougher winters. I've seen more snow and ice than we've had this year. But it's been years since I've been house-bound this long.

I'm beginning to understand why my sister goes to south Texas for the winter.

Great day to be alive!

After the temperatures being below freezing for the better part of the last two weeks, we got a reprieve today; it got into the fifties! Of course it's a muddy mess outside, but I put on my chore boots and waded outside to give Blue and Libby some attention. I was surprised to see the amount of loose hair I got from both of them when I curried them. Gee, the temperatures are going back to single digits tomorrow; they need every hair they can muster.

Our bathtub drain froze a couple of days ago; it's no easy task to get it thawed, but Cliff got that done today, thank God. One winter we ended up bailing water from the tub to the toilet until spring arrived.

The other good thing about today: My daughter, Rachel, got my wireless router set up for me, so now I can use the laptop in the other rooms! She is a lot more persistent than I am. After she'd spent about two hours of her only day off in ten days on the phone with tech people at Belkin, I suggested she just forget about it. Nope, not her! Thank you Rachel.

Most of the snow and ice will be gone after today, which will make for easier walking for me and Cliff when we get our exercise.

It seems like months since I've ridden Blue.