home safe!

The upper plains, or whatever that area to the west and north of us is called, got hammered with a foot or more of snow the past couple of days. I don't pay close attention to the forecast 'cause I live with a weatherman, my hubby. He said we might get an inch or so.

This afternoon I had a couple of little errands to run and thought nothing of the snow. After all, I'm not Memaw. My paternal grandmother, ever the southerner, was horrified when she'd visit us in Connecticut and watch my mother head out to run errands in the snow. Memphians just don't do that. They stay home if it snows, no questions asked.

So. Errand number one went fine. Then I needed to run to Kohl's on the east side of town. After spending just 15 minutes in Kohl's, I headed to my car which was covered in at least 2 inches of snow. The state highway out front, a main artery into town, was packed. OK, the Friday before Christmas, I understand.

Apparently the snow caught the city guys off guard. There were no plows in sight. A usual 7-minute trip took at least a half hour. It was punctuated by icy roads, several inches of snow and slush, and holiday traffic. Slight hills up and over railroad tracks turned treacherous and our main street in town, Sandusky, suffered a gridlock of sliding cars and gobs of traffic.

I'm home now. Dinner is going to be whatever's on hand: no going out! Be safe, friends, wherever you are! (No, Karen, not moving south!)

Sandy

I cannot begin to grasp the devastation that has fallen

on New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

Hurricane Sandy roared through on Monday

and ruthlessly took out power and burned houses to the ground in Staten Island.

It tore two little boys from their mother's arms and drowned them.

It washed in mountains of sand,

flooded homes, businesses, streets and subways.

Residents are without running water, electricity, heat, access to food and gasoline.

Some have no homes to go home to.

And many are getting desperate.

I'm thankful the mayor canceled the New York City marathon,

a no-brain decision.

I wish I could make a casserole for a hungry family,

or open our spare bedroom to someone who's cold tonight.

But I will pray for God to deliver relief

in the countless ways that are needed,

through big and giving hearts. 

is it spring yet?

Good grief we are having crazy weather. I haven't commented much on the weather lately. (You're welcome.) Maybe because I'm too busy. And maybe because it hasn't turned horrible. Yet.

Yesterday and today the sun shone!  Love, LOVE the sun to shine, which doesn't happen enough here in the midwest. Not only that, temps were in the low 50's. Positively balmy. Car-washing weather. Dog-walking weather. Just step out in the driveway and point your face to the sun weather!

But. It's only January 7. That's just two weeks into winter with lots more to go. And the Farmer's Almanac (online Farmer's Almanac, wowee!) predicts some hefty precipitation and average temps in these parts. I figure that right about the time Jill delivers our newest granddaughter, the snow will begin. And our son Mark, the baby's daddy, will head out to plow since that's part of his winter work. Oh gracious, we shall see.

Meantime, my boots are in the closet this early January day. De-lightful.

oh, hail!

Just back from a walk with my friend Lisa. On weekends when it's not icy/snowy/horrible weather we try to take a longer walk beyond my neighborhood. So Ellie and I started out to meet Lisa part-way. In the upper 30's, windy and cloudy: not bad by winter's standards.

Just at the point where Lisa and I part paths for home, something started falling: white, frozen stuff. Small, about the size of a pencil eraser. In fact, it looked much like Dippin' Dots! Bouncing off the sidewalk, my head and Ellie. She seemed a little confused.

The Dippin' Dots only lasted a few minutes, but I felt kind of silly, like a kid caught in a rainstorm.

Gee, when spring finally gets here it's going to be boring!

on the sunny side of the street

Our house and drive face north and neighbors across the street face south. It's as if they've jumped ahead to spring! I was describing this to my Florida friend Beth who couldn't quite believe it. See for yourself:

I remember this song from my childhood, but I doubt my kids do!

Grab your coat and get your hat

Leave your worries on the doorstep

Just direct your feet

to the sunny side of the street.

Can't you hear a pitter-pat

and that happy tune is your step

Life can be so sweet

On the sunny side of the street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcQJ4T9HNfU

On the Sunny Side of the Street by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, 1930.

after the storm

didn't mean it!

I take it back, February. You packed a wallop and you win! Inch-thick ice, huge limbs brought down, and our street transformed into a skating rink. Throughout Tuesday night we were awakened by ice crashing on our roof as the wind loosened ice from the trees. Eerie.

Rough day yesterday. We had no power for about 14 hours; other parts of town even longer. The house grew chilly but thanks to our gas stove, I was able to heat soup and make tea.

It's strange. By last night, I was exhausted. How is doing nothing - except trying to keep warm all day - so exhausting?

Thickness of the ice brought by the storm.

Our maple took a hard hit; not sure of its future.
My son Dan said, "I remember when that tree was a twig!"

It's ok, February.
We don't need any encores.

bring it on, February

Why, what's the matter,

That you have such a February face,

So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness.

- William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

the one-day screen

What a stinkin' hot summer. Typically we brag in Ohio about keeping the AC off during long cool stretches. Or short cool stretches. Not this summer. Blazing hot.

How hot is it? Well, the screen on the front storm door was in for ONE day: that would be yesterday. Other than Wednesday, August 18, that darn storm door has had the glass all summer as if it were January.

Bill has given up trying to convince me to keep the front door shut to keep the hot out and the cold in and vice versa. My light-craving, claustrophobic-leaning self simply must have the front door open during the day. In extreme temps, the glass panel's in the storm door. If and when the temps turn mild, the screen is in.

Sigh. I will hope for some September days when I can pop the screen back in and enjoy some cross-breeze through the house.

Does anyone else battle with the glass-or-screen issue?

yard puttering, 2010

This crazy Ohio weather. Within a week of a two-inch snowfall, the thermometer hit the 70's. Now I've worn shorts and flip flops all weekend. Winter jumped to summer with only a snippet of spring.

I suppose all this weather talk gets tiresome to some. Truth be told, I've posted 18 times on the weather, ranking ahead of my husband! Sorry about that, honey. But after slogging and shoveling through our 80-some inches of snow this winter, warm weather is a noteworthy event. And it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that we could see more snow this month, horrific as that sounds.

Last year I posted on yard puttering. Season after season, I love yard puttering.

Perhaps with the birth of my granddaughter this year, I'm extra-attuned to new life. So delicious! I LOOK for things to do outside for the sheer joy of welcoming spring. I notice the temperature, the earthy smells, bird choruses and the tender, delightful green shoots peeking through last year's leaves.

Inside pursuits suddenly seem dreadfully uninteresting. My neighbors, I am sure, notice me loitering about the yard, not doing very much at all.

Camera in hand, I squat amidst the leaves and shrubbery and snap evidence of new life. I feel a little silly, but also energized.

We were just in the south, where buds and blooms seem to charge out of the ground in early spring. Here, we patiently wait while new growth must be coaxed, oh so slowly from the ground.

A worthy wait!

birds heard

I heard them this morning. In fact, they might actually have awakened me before my alarm.

BIRDS SINGING. Hallelujah, it's a glorious day! The return of birds means - I don't need to tell you - melting snow (we still have an impressive amount), tiny swelling buds on the maple, crocus poking up by month's end, a sun warming up for its summer gig, yes, spring, spring, SPRING!

My study is on the south side of our house, catching the afternoon sun. You can call me silly, but on Friday I put on shorts and a t-shirt, threw open the shade and positioned myself in front of that window for a good hour. Heavenly!

This sort of blooming hasn't quite happened, but I am dreaming of it!

the winter willies

Except for a few unnamed neighbors people I know,

most folks around here

are getting just a tad sick and tired

of snow,

ice,

the forecast of another storm,

treacherous roads,

salty, grimy cars and

gritty garages.

In fact, I am getting the willies

over being cooped up inside

week

after week

after week.

Oh, I go outside

to shovel snow or

go to work or

walk the dog,

hoping I don't fall.

But it can't compare to

poking in the flowerbeds

planting and digging,

jumping on my bike or

eating my lunch in the summer sun.

Come  quickly, spring.

I'm weary of the winter willies.

diggin' out

I totally appreciate the snowplowmen, as stated on February 8. With two storms hitting us in a week, they've had their plows full.

And I understand their caution in not wanting to slam into mailboxes. One year ours was knocked completely off the post.

But wow, our plowman was overly cautious last night, leaving a couple of feet of snowbank in front of the mailbox.

Plowmen and mail carriers, I salute you!

snow is what happens when we're making other plans

Why yes, there has been a hefty portion of weather posts. But then, the snow just keeps coming. No sooner were we shoveled and plowed out three days ago, winter dishes up a new storm.

So, things like school and meetings and work get delayed or cancelled altogether. Once again, we're out chatting and shoveling with the neighbors.

We Ohioans are nothing if not adaptable. Serve up the snow: we can handle it!

whopper of the year!

I love to look up when photographing!

We got a decent snow starting yesterday morning and on through the night. Bill (who shoveled THREE separate times) estimates 14 inches. If you've never lived in a snowy climate, especially a small town, you've missed something fun. People out at all hours trying to keep ahead of the snowfall, neighbors helping each other, and most everyone cooking up a pot of soup or chili.

You'd almost think I LIKE snow, which I do when we get slammed with a big one. It's the weeks of winter road grit and slush that wear on me.

Anyway, in a way it's festive when normal life comes to a halt so that we can all dig out, eat soup and watch movies. One slight irritation with this storm is our directTV dish atop the house is covered with a snow drift. No TV. Bill mentioned firing tennis balls up there ...

Our daughter-in-love Jill came over today. Her hubby, our son Mark, has been out working for over 24 hours. His job? PLOWING for a landscape company. Please, folks ... be kind to the plow guys. They are working crazy long hours and doing the best they can.

Howling winds are predicted tonight, so instead of the Super Bowl tomorrow, we might have another round of super shoveling ... especially if our TV is still out!

travel woes

My son David flew from Florida to Akron, Ohio today for a buddy's wedding. Welcome back to Ohio, David! He arrived on the edge of a good midwestern snowstorm. I checked the Akron forecast, which is ...

NORTHEAST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 15 TO 25 MPH TONIGHT CAUSING SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. THIS WILL ADD TO THE TRAVEL WOES. VISIBILITIES BELOW 1 MILE WILL BE COMMON.

But here in central Ohio, we get the heart of the storm as it races east ... trusty weather.com foretells of the hours ahead ...

SNOW... HEAVY AT TIMES... WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE WARNING AREA TONIGHT. SNOW WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF DURING SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT WITH A STORM TOTAL OF 10 TO 12 INCHES EXPECTED BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW... NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH WILL OCCUR THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY MORNING. THESE WINDS WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WHICH MAY RESULT IN LOCAL WHITEOUT CONDITIONS.

It's amusing: some of the locals love it and others despair of a snowbound weekend. This February weather should come as no surprise. We do live in the midwest, after all.

I say embrace it. As for me, I hope to have a mountain of filing and organizing accomplished by weekend's end.

I also hope to have some photos to post tomorrow.

first snow

This is what I saw as I stepped out to get the paper this morning: the first snow of winter. In years past, the kids would be squealing and searching for hats, boots, sleds, mittens and scarves. Had I been an A-type, organized mother, all such items would be neatly organized near the back door in four little piles.

After the hour-long snow-gear search, the children would be running, snow-angeling, and throwing snowballs down each other's necks. Soon one would be crying at the door, all frozen or needing to use the bathroom. At which point I'd stop making hot chocolate to help undress, then re-dress the child. Twenty minutes later, I'd hand a tray of hot chocolate out the door for the kids, all soggy-mittened and red-cheeked. While I was putting throw rugs and beach towels around the back door to catch the snow, another child would be at the door, needing the potty.

Yep, that's what used to happen on first-snow days.

autumn

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - George Eliot



It seems to me that autumn took its sweet time floating in this year. And now it seems to be in a rush to finish and give way to winter.



I follow autumn's lead ... yanking geraniums, cutting back long-dead ferns and storing the garden hoses.



How I love autumn. It stirs sweet memories of leaf-raking and luscious apples in my New England childhood. It offers a reprieve from the constant care of flower beds and thirsty impatiens. And autumn's explosion of colors is beyond compare.



Won't you linger awhile, autumn? What's your hurry?

(c) Barbara M. Haller

a scent of spring

I pondered a day of house cleaning that I promised myself would happen today. Bleary-eyed and sipping my coffee this morning, I heard them. Little twitterings out back. And there, at the bird house on the oak tree by the patio was a pair of sparrows flitting about. A tiny beaked face peered back at me from the hole.

Now, as I type, the welcome sun streams in and and bathes my back. I've cracked open the window for the first delicious, fresh-from-the-outside, could-it-be-coming, spring-sweet air.

Last year we endured 23" of snow the first weekend in March. So while I have no delusions that spring is near, when sparrows are checking out real estate and sunny skies usher in 50 whole degrees, I have hope. Hope in the fact that the salt, grit, snow-matted grass and naked trees are only good for a few more weeks.

Come on, spring!

He creates the wind

High winds arrived the other night. And as I settled into bed, the wind beat against our house: the massive, creak-the-house, heaving sort of wind that to me is just a little scary. I would guess that Wednesday night's winds were nearly as fierce as those of last September.

As day broke, we peeked out to check for damage. Those winds packed a wallop, all right, taking down a 50-foot pine tree out back.

I find the realness of God in such a storm. He breathes his power through the wind and I am awed by it.

He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth --
the Lord God Almighty is his name.
Amos 4:13