Well, we all knew that it had to happen sooner or later. I mean, shoot, how could we go on all winter without it occuring? It finally dipped below freezing. Today’s high temperature never made it above freezing. Our high was 30 degrees and that was at 1:18am. It was a good run, though. We went exactly 45 straight days with highs above freezing.
It is winter, and most winters you can expect it to be damn cold. But apparently the media has forgotten that. They make me laugh. More often than not we spend a great deal of late December, all of January, and the early part of February deep in the freezer. Temperatures in the single digits are considered common place whereas temperatures in the 30’s are considered almost balmy. But because we’ve had such a mild winter, the weather prognosticators, perhaps in an effort to capture an audience, have been referring to this weekend’s chilly temperatures and light dusting of snow as “bitter cold and a winter storm”. Please! If we were in Georgia or Florida I could understand all the media hype, but here in the mid-west where we typically spend over half the entire winter in the freezer with no breaks, it’s a little bit ridiculous. Come on! Get a grip!
That being said, we can hardly call what we’ve been through since December 21st, winter. I move that we call it something more applicable. How about Sprinter; a cross between winter and spring?
To put things in perspective, my snow boots sit idle in the laundry/mud room just waiting for the moment when they will get to dawn my feet for a stroll with Ykraps in the snow. Past winters they have been used 50-60 times. This winter they’ve been used a paltry 5-10 times, and that was well before winter officially kicked in (early December). We’ve had days in January and early February that are warmer than some mid-May days. And with few exceptions, we haven’t had a lot of rain either, which is often the case when the winter temps are so warm.
Bottom line, I can tolerate winters like this one. Let’s just hope that we can continue to enjoy good fortune and sprint to spring!
I woke one or two times before finally popping up and out of bed. It was 7:20am and I felt pretty damn good! After all, I had enjoyed a quiet relaxing evening and a good night’s sleep. After completing my routine I blogged Saturday and caught up on all my favorite webpages. I readied for a run and was out the door sometime around 10:00am. I dressed in three winter layers complete with hat and gloves. And while there was a stiff cold breeze blowing out of the southwest, I was very comfortable. For my listening pleasure, I listened to WOSU-FM on my MP3 player.
I was home by 10:35am, but puttered around outside for about ten minutes. After returning indoors I began making my Sunday breakfast. I made pancakes and eggs. They were excellent! Too, I made a mental list of the items I’d be taking to Mindy’s later in the afternoon in preparation for dinner and the Super Bowl. And once again, I didn’t have an over aggressive agenda or a big project to complete. That only aided in making my day that much more enjoyable. I played guitar and cleaned up around the house – not much else.
Come 12:45pm I showered and dressed in preparation for Super Bowl Sunday at Mindy’s. In tow I had the Cornish hens, gingerbread mix, two DVD’s, camera, and my old comforter. She had asked yesterday if I would stop and pick up some dog food for her two wonderful pups, having forgot to get some herself. I had in mind to make a stop at Wal-Mart or Kroger on the way anyhow so I obliged. While there I picked up a lovely bouquet of flowers for her too.
I arrived at Mindy’s right on schedule. And everyone was happy to see me including the dogs! And by the way, I think the flowers earned me extra mileage points. At this pace I might get a free trip sooner than expected. J While Mindy tended to her flowers, I began making the ginger bread. I had originally intended to make it over the Xmas holiday but didn’t. I had been craving some for a few years.
After the gingerbread was in I the oven, I took to sword fighting with Jacob. His imagination and passion for jousting only seems to grow stronger each day. If you could see the look in his eyes as our swords collide you’d be amazed! And by the way, it hurts when you’re stabbed with the blunt tip of a “play” sword, even if it is plastic!
After the gingerbread was done baking, it was time to prepare the cornish hens. My preference is to bake them on a raised rack to allow heat to circulate around the entire bird. First, we bathed them, then seasoned them with salt, pepper, rosemary and minced garlic – inside and out. Then, after baking for 30 minutes I baste them in olive oil to help brown and crisp the skin. I’ve done this a few times.
To complement the hens, Mindy prepared her scrumptious green bean casserole, some stove-top stuffing, garden salad, and some home made garlic bread.
Everything was ready by 5:30pm as we had planned. Together, the four of us gathered at the dinner table to enjoy the fruits of our effort. Oh yeah, and we prayed like three times before and during dinner at the children’s insistence. The food was as tasty as it looked. We really out did ourselves once again. Come 6:15pm we were done and even had the kitchen all but completely cleaned up so that we could relax and enjoy the Super Bowl. But before the game started, Jacob insisted that we squeeze in yet another sword fight. I’m telling you, this kid loves jousting! Truth is I like it too. It’s a little more interactive than toy-gun shoot outs.
Time for kick-off! I had made the conscious choice to pull for the Seahawks, but there was no emotional attachment to either. Probably the biggest reason was the thought of listening to all the Steeler fans gloating at work tomorrow if they win. EWH! My philosophy is that if the Vikings can’t be there, then I don’t want any of my close associate’s teams to be there either. What was more consequential to me was the score at the end of each quarter, which was worth $400 each quarter, or $100 if reversed. I had three for the Seahawks and eight for the Steelers. Turns out I didn’t win a damn dime. Steelers win – Seahawks lose.
At the games conclusion, Mindy and I uncharacteristically stayed tuned in to catch Grey’s Anatomy for the catchy previews. Despite all the drama, I fell asleep 20 minutes or so into the program. Mindy woke me at its conclusion. I headed for home. It was cold, but I still had to walk Ykraps.
On my drive home someone tailgated me all the way down Alton Darby even though I was going 50mph. Obviously they were in a hurry. Once I turned on Renner Rd that drama ended. Soon, however, more would unfold.
Once I passed Wal-Mart the light traffic was going at about 45mph. Suddenly, two cars in front of me the driver began slowing down. 35, 25, 15, and finally about 5mph. All of this for no apparent reason. It got to where he practically came to a complete stop. I was intolerant and decided to pass without question or any gesture. I did make a quick observation to see if anything might be visibly wrong, and I did notice seemingly one occupant seemingly lurching toward the passenger seat with their head somewhat slumped. I though how peculiar but proceeded onward.
Once I was 50 yards or so out front, the once pokey driver began flashing his brights at me, and then sped up to almost catch me. A glance in my rearview revealed a car weaving out of control left to right. This made my heart race, and for a moment I became concerned for my own well being. What the hell was up?
All the while this was going on, I had Mindy on my cell phone as she had called to let me know that I had left my backpack at her home. She was worried because I was keeping her abreast of the situation as it unfolded. I worried that the driver was drunk or even crazy. Soon thankfully, the driver finally regressed and it appeared judging by the absence of headlights behind me, that he must have wrecked or stopped. I was just happy to have avoided a potentially dangerous confrontation or being the victim of a severely drunk driver.
Once home I quickly walked Ykraps, had a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, then crawled into bed. I have no recollection of the time but assumed it to be somewhere just after midnight.
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Well, we all knew that it had to happen sooner or later. I mean, shoot, how could we go on all winter without it occuring? It finally dipped below freezing. Today’s high temperature never made it above freezing. Our high was 30 degrees and that was at 1:18am. It was a good run, though. We went exactly 45 straight days with highs above freezing.
It is winter, and most winters you can expect it to be damn cold. But apparently the media has forgotten that. They make me laugh. More often than not we spend a great deal of late December, all of January, and the early part of February deep in the freezer. Temperatures in the single digits are considered common place whereas temperatures in the 30’s are considered almost balmy. But because we’ve had such a mild winter, the weather prognosticators, perhaps in an effort to capture an audience, have been referring to this weekend’s chilly temperatures and light dusting of snow as “bitter cold and a winter storm”. Please! If we were in Georgia or Florida I could understand all the media hype, but here in the mid-west where we typically spend over half the entire winter in the freezer with no breaks, it’s a little bit ridiculous. Come on! Get a grip!
That being said, we can hardly call what we’ve been through since December 21st, winter. I move that we call it something more applicable. How about Sprinter; a cross between winter and spring?
To put things in perspective, my snow boots sit idle in the laundry/mud room just waiting for the moment when they will get to dawn my feet for a stroll with Ykraps in the snow. Past winters they have been used 50-60 times. This winter they’ve been used a paltry 5-10 times, and that was well before winter officially kicked in (early December). We’ve had days in January and early February that are warmer than some mid-May days. And with few exceptions, we haven’t had a lot of rain either, which is often the case when the winter temps are so warm.
Bottom line, I can tolerate winters like this one. Let’s just hope that we can continue to enjoy good fortune and sprint to spring!
I woke one or two times before finally popping up and out of bed. It was 7:20am and I felt pretty damn good! After all, I had enjoyed a quiet relaxing evening and a good night’s sleep. After completing my routine I blogged Saturday and caught up on all my favorite webpages. I readied for a run and was out the door sometime around 10:00am. I dressed in three winter layers complete with hat and gloves. And while there was a stiff cold breeze blowing out of the southwest, I was very comfortable. For my listening pleasure, I listened to WOSU-FM on my MP3 player.
I was home by 10:35am, but puttered around outside for about ten minutes. After returning indoors I began making my Sunday breakfast. I made pancakes and eggs. They were excellent! Too, I made a mental list of the items I’d be taking to Mindy’s later in the afternoon in preparation for dinner and the Super Bowl. And once again, I didn’t have an over aggressive agenda or a big project to complete. That only aided in making my day that much more enjoyable. I played guitar and cleaned up around the house – not much else.
Come 12:45pm I showered and dressed in preparation for Super Bowl Sunday at Mindy’s. In tow I had the Cornish hens, gingerbread mix, two DVD’s, camera, and my old comforter. She had asked yesterday if I would stop and pick up some dog food for her two wonderful pups, having forgot to get some herself. I had in mind to make a stop at Wal-Mart or Kroger on the way anyhow so I obliged. While there I picked up a lovely bouquet of flowers for her too.
I arrived at Mindy’s right on schedule. And everyone was happy to see me including the dogs! And by the way, I think the flowers earned me extra mileage points. At this pace I might get a free trip sooner than expected. J While Mindy tended to her flowers, I began making the ginger bread. I had originally intended to make it over the Xmas holiday but didn’t. I had been craving some for a few years.
After the gingerbread was in I the oven, I took to sword fighting with Jacob. His imagination and passion for jousting only seems to grow stronger each day. If you could see the look in his eyes as our swords collide you’d be amazed! And by the way, it hurts when you’re stabbed with the blunt tip of a “play” sword, even if it is plastic!
After the gingerbread was done baking, it was time to prepare the cornish hens. My preference is to bake them on a raised rack to allow heat to circulate around the entire bird. First, we bathed them, then seasoned them with salt, pepper, rosemary and minced garlic – inside and out. Then, after baking for 30 minutes I baste them in olive oil to help brown and crisp the skin. I’ve done this a few times.
To complement the hens, Mindy prepared her scrumptious green bean casserole, some stove-top stuffing, garden salad, and some home made garlic bread.
Everything was ready by 5:30pm as we had planned. Together, the four of us gathered at the dinner table to enjoy the fruits of our effort. Oh yeah, and we prayed like three times before and during dinner at the children’s insistence. The food was as tasty as it looked. We really out did ourselves once again. Come 6:15pm we were done and even had the kitchen all but completely cleaned up so that we could relax and enjoy the Super Bowl. But before the game started, Jacob insisted that we squeeze in yet another sword fight. I’m telling you, this kid loves jousting! Truth is I like it too. It’s a little more interactive than toy-gun shoot outs.
Time for kick-off! I had made the conscious choice to pull for the Seahawks, but there was no emotional attachment to either. Probably the biggest reason was the thought of listening to all the Steeler fans gloating at work tomorrow if they win. EWH! My philosophy is that if the Vikings can’t be there, then I don’t want any of my close associate’s teams to be there either. What was more consequential to me was the score at the end of each quarter, which was worth $400 each quarter, or $100 if reversed. I had three for the Seahawks and eight for the Steelers. Turns out I didn’t win a damn dime. Steelers win – Seahawks lose.
At the games conclusion, Mindy and I uncharacteristically stayed tuned in to catch Grey’s Anatomy for the catchy previews. Despite all the drama, I fell asleep 20 minutes or so into the program. Mindy woke me at its conclusion. I headed for home. It was cold, but I still had to walk Ykraps.
On my drive home someone tailgated me all the way down Alton Darby even though I was going 50mph. Obviously they were in a hurry. Once I turned on Renner Rd that drama ended. Soon, however, more would unfold.
Once I passed Wal-Mart the light traffic was going at about 45mph. Suddenly, two cars in front of me the driver began slowing down. 35, 25, 15, and finally about 5mph. All of this for no apparent reason. It got to where he practically came to a complete stop. I was intolerant and decided to pass without question or any gesture. I did make a quick observation to see if anything might be visibly wrong, and I did notice seemingly one occupant seemingly lurching toward the passenger seat with their head somewhat slumped. I though how peculiar but proceeded onward.
Once I was 50 yards or so out front, the once pokey driver began flashing his brights at me, and then sped up to almost catch me. A glance in my rearview revealed a car weaving out of control left to right. This made my heart race, and for a moment I became concerned for my own well being. What the hell was up?
All the while this was going on, I had Mindy on my cell phone as she had called to let me know that I had left my backpack at her home. She was worried because I was keeping her abreast of the situation as it unfolded. I worried that the driver was drunk or even crazy. Soon thankfully, the driver finally regressed and it appeared judging by the absence of headlights behind me, that he must have wrecked or stopped. I was just happy to have avoided a potentially dangerous confrontation or being the victim of a severely drunk driver.
Once home I quickly walked Ykraps, had a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, then crawled into bed. I have no recollection of the time but assumed it to be somewhere just after midnight.
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