Thursday, January 13, 2011

Thanks and Snow

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to read my father's story.  It was a fun experience for me, and Dad enjoyed all your comments.  (So did Mom, she checked to make sure everyone was being nice.)  I had no idea so many of you were signed up as donors.  It's good to know there are so many out there!

Back here in Flartopia, there's been pretty much one topic of conversation: SNOW!


Since I grew up in the snow belt of northeastern Ohio (Geauga County, for any who know the area), I tend to pooh-pooh the typical panic that seizes most of the locals here when snow is forecast.  While they were huddled inside with their precious stashes of bread and milk, Miss Chef and I snapped a leash on Rosie and went for a good long winter's hike.

This was supposed to be a picture of Rosie, but she was moving too fast!


Oh, there she is...check out that huge ruff of fur helping keep her toasty warm.  This is Rosie kind of weather!


As you can see, there were already three or four inches, and it was still snowing heavily.  It snowed all day Monday.


Oh, did I mention that Miss Chef and I both had the day off?  Yes, a snow day, just like the kids!  Besides catching up with some projects, like hanging curtains, we played in the snow, made pigs-in-a-blanket (or, as Miss Chef insists they're called, peekaboo dogs), and snuggled under the blankets on the couch in front of a crackling fire and watched Twelfth Night (with Ben Kingsley, Helena Bonham Carter, and Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies).

"Jove and my stars be praised!  Here is yet MORE SNOW!"

Now, although I pooh-poohed the frenzy and panic about the snow, I still have to grant serious respect to the aftermath.  Because around here, snow doesn't stay snow for long.  Tuesday morning, we woke to streets and driveways plastered in a quarter inch of smooth, slippery ice.  Thanks to my early years of driving in snow, I was comfortable enough with the concept of sliding stops and turns to ease my way out of the neighborhood onto the main roads, which were pretty well cleared.  For a southern town, Charlotte does a pretty dang good job of getting the roads cleared of snow and ice.

Today, three days later, there's still tons of heavy, slick ice around.  Avoiding the slippery driveway, we've reduced our lawn to a sea of mini icebergs.


This is what that lovely layer of snow looked like this morning, after a few rounds of thaw and refreeze.  Fluffiness has turned into a glistening glaze.


The sun hadn't quite come up yet, before I left for work, so I wasn't able to fully capture just how striking the reflected light is.  On the drive into work the past few days, I've had to keep reminding myself to watch out for slick patches, because I find this smoothed-over look so mezmerizing.

Charlotte city schools finally went back today after three days out; some other counties in the area were still out today.  I don't envy those teachers trying to get their students re-focused enough to make up for lost time!

Well, as I said, that's pretty much all that's been going on around here.  I did also want to re-invite everyone to play along with our Postive Things meme.  After re-perusing the Happy Frog blog, I realized that the number of positive things is not fixed...so don't feel you have to fill up or limit yourself to 15!  Thanks to Dillypoo for playing along in December.  I wonder if we'll have any more join us this month?

9 comments:

  1. In Maryland, it was milk, bread AND toilet paper. Whenever the forecast called for considerable snow, we'd start singing, "Milk, bread and toilet paper... milk, bread and toilet paper..." :D

    Hooray for Rosie and Rosie weather! And hooray for you and Miss Chef to enjoy a snow day together. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holy smokes, that's icy! I envy your confidence driving in those conditions. I learned to drive in Alberta and lived for a long time in Ontario, so I know about driving in snow. But somehow almost 10 years here on Vancouver Island have turned me into a big wimp. It is different here, because it's usually around freezing and the snow is usually very wet, so the weight of the car turns things instantly to ice. But still, I think I'm just wimpy...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the snow, but, more so now that I don't have to go out and drive in it. Glad you remembered how to drive on snowy and icy roads. It appears to be a skill you never forget, lucky for you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ice is treacherous stuff!
    I've thought of you a lot since your father's post. It must have been a rollercoaster for you, living through your father's health ups and downs. Very stressful. So glad he's doing well. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful pictures! Rosie sure looks like she was having fun in the snow! I heard about the ice over your way on the news, they were showing people chipping away at it with a hammer, a garden claw and some other odd things. Ice is no fun!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oooh! That ice looks beautiful AND treachurous! Be careful out there!

    I still have strong memories of that terrible ice storm we had in Rock Hill, SC, when we were awakened at 3am by what sounded like bombs exploding and guns cracking outside! When we looked outside at the light of dawn, all the Bradford Pear that lined the entire neighborhood's streets had basically just split right down the center, their branches spread out like fans. The destroyed trees reminded me of women with their frilly skirts spread out around them.


    I had to laugh at the milk and bread thing, too. When we lived in South Carolina, that's just the way it was.
    Here in New Mexico, it's milk, tortillas and hominy(to make posole). lol!

    ~Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ps

    I am soooooo glad to see beautiful Rosie crowning your blog, in the header again :)

    ~L

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the 5 Positive Things reminder. I need to get on that.

    And being from Lake County, I know that Geauga County folks know snow far better and I do so your walk in the white stuff doesn't surprise me at all :-)

    Have a great week, jj

    ReplyDelete
  9. now that I see Rosie from the side, I see some Chow. Did the snow get stuck on her paws?

    I just read the Birthday post. Your Dad is a great writer.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by--please share your thoughts!

"Every time we get comment mail, Rosie wags her tail!" (Seriously, you should see that puffy thing go.)