Back to school

Well, we've had a week off. Last Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday we were under the Sheriff's urging to "stay put" Snowmageddon snow storm. We had three snow days from school because we received about 7 inches of snow over the time period, ice, sleet and wind. By the time the weather cleared, Friday and today were an already scheduled winter break. So it's been a week off!

Only the Superintendent and School Board know how we'll make up the 3 days. They'll let us know when they decide. Meanwhile, tomorrow starts the hamster wheel again. Back to school!

Speaking of hamster wheel, I found a neat hamster ball online that had a kitty in it. I might get one for Murray. Of course I'd get a larger one than this one in the link, if it is available.

The weather has been sunny and warm. Today it is 57 degrees and tomorrow it will be in the mid-60s. What I love about Georgia is not just the temps, but the sun's warmth is actually warmer and stronger, earlier in the season. When you go outside and if you're protected from the wind, it is actually warm. The sun rays feel so gooood!

Breakfast today was farm fresh egg w/roasted green peppers, mushroom, tomato. Home fries, kiwi & tangerine salad. Most food from Bountiful Basket :)

Lunch was also from the goodies from Bountiful Basket: leek & potato soup, spinach salad with a boiled egg, croutons and avocado. I love the quality of the produce from BB and the plentifulness of it.

I filled the bird feeder and the birds have been loving it. Especially the chickadees. The birds are back in force, and I hear their concert every dawn and evening. The morning birdsong is very rousing around here.

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes...

Snowstorm Pax packed a punch but didn't knock us out

We received snow, ice, freezing rain, sleet, wind, and more during the Pax storm of February 11-13. I laid in my supplies, which were milk and bread naturally, I made soup and muffins, drew water, readied the weather radio with batteries and got out the hurricane lantern.

And joy of joys, the power stayed on! I only had a two or three minute interruption and then it popped back on. I think some of that was because we didn't get the predicted ice they said we would, but they did say we were on the edge of the snow v. ice line so it could have gone either way. I'm glad it went this way! A quarter of a million people in Georgia lost power, the greatest amount of all the southern states affected by Pax. So...

And the other reason, I am convinced, is that people heeded directions and stayed off the roads. No one was crashing around into poles and transformers. As of yesterday afternoon at the height of the storm that had been going for 20 hours, Athens police had only responded to ONE road call for crash. Yay, people!

Here is a photo I love, posted at the height of the storm, by Madison County Sheriff on his Facebook page:

Icicles on my front porch had already started to melt at sunup

The neighbor's smoker looks like a hunched R2D2 trying to walk in the snow

I need to buy more bird seed.

 

 The candles were ready but the power stayed ON! Yay!

There is a lot of extreme weather this week. The news reported that Slovenia is "entombed" in ice. Their word, entombed. And since the nation is paralyzed and not moving then entombed seems like an apt description. Look at some of these pics:

Guy tries to figure out how to unearth his car and make it usable again.

The trains aren't going to run for at least two more weeks, they say.

Many people are attributing this extreme weather to global warming. Even my cats are worried about it. [Not]

Madison County Sheriff wrote,

"Road conditions are beginning to improve. We would still like everyone to stay put and let the snow crews catch up. Things should be much better by this afternoon. Thank you all for heeding the warnings and staying at home, it helped tremendously!!!"

It's official. I have to stay at home. Aw shucks, what a hardship. [Not]

Till next time!!

Pax, the ridiculously named winter ice storm

Well the ridiculously named snowstorm Pax (means peace) is here. The weather men have been predicting it for days and it is living up to its hype. Cold, wind, snow, sleet, and ice. We've got it all here in GA and to prove it many thousands are without power. I got up early and took a hot shower right away and made coffee. Phew, at least I got that in before the power went out. Next in line for important duties was to post the blog entry for The End Time, and while I was at it I wrote a second one. Phew.

It wasn't long before the temps tumbled and the ticking of ice against the glass appeared. If there were 8 tiny reindeer I'd have jumped aboard and headed for Key West. I thought I left the more severe weather behind me in Maine when I moved here, but that was not to be, at least today. Ah well, we have had mild winters for the last 7 years so I can't really complain.

They say that the worst of the storm is on its way. Over 100,000 Georgians are without power as I write this, and the numbers are rising fast. So when they say the worst is yet to come for the Athens area, I believe it. I have lived through enough ice storms to have developed a healthy hate respect for them.

I've filled my sun shower, drawn water into three jugs totaling I'd estimate about 10 gallons, made food, gotten cat food and litter, batteries for the weather emergency radio, have a hurricane lantern and oil plus candles. I'm physically ready but not emotionally. I dread the tree limbs over the house and the pops and smashes through the night that indicate falling limbs and trees. I dread the ice and the cold...and the worry about pipes freezing. It is 27 degrees but the real feel is 10. I am sure the aging pipes feel every degree of that cold.

But on the plus side, there is no school, I have books, and craft projects I can do, power for now, food, cats to entertain me, and close neighbors. All is well and though Pax is ineptly named, I do fee a peace. I won't say Pax be with you, because it is predicted to barrel its way up the eastern coast of the US, but I hope  you're prepared and do feel a peace - that spring is almost here.

Winter

My old home, Gray Maine. I spent almost 30 years in Maine, half of them in Gray. Winters were brutal.

That hump is my Saturn station wagon. The orange blob in the door is my husband, who had to dig the door open and then is inside scrambling to find the keys. We'd been in Florida for two weeks.

Long icicle from a garage roof, Congregational Church in the background. The winter light at dusk is like that, bluish.

Icicles from the cabin I'd lived in for 14 years.

The cabin in spring. In height of winter, there would be massive drifts on either side of the shoveled path

During a snowstorm the wind-driven snow was blown Into my office under the door.

But son, I had a dream...

So, my friends in Maine got a dose of April Fools...a heavy snowstorm!! I am so glad I moved to Georgia. I feel for those guys. By April you're really sick of winter. I mean, it's been going on since October! Here's what it looked like this morning up there.

This is what I awoke to:

I had a good day. I cleaned the apartment, and it looks good. I like it when it looks good in here. I went grocery shopping, and got more strawberries, among other things. I'm on my third tray of strawberries this week. Can you tell I love them?!

While I was walking across the parking lot a mom had taken her three year old out of the car and as she walked up to the carts his little face peeked out over her shoulder. He waved at me and smiled. You know how kids do that...they look straight at you, guileless, unabashed. He smiled while looking straight into my eyes, and he waved or the longest time. I looked back and waved at him and his smile broadened. What a nice way to walk into a store.

It wasn't crowded and I enjoyed picking up the few things I needed. At the checkout, there was another mom with a child about the same age, maybe slightly younger. He was obedient but since he was a kid the moment she put him down he started touching everything, the candy, the register at the next station over, the things on the floor. By that time she had gotten the money out of her wallet and picked him up again. She was telling the checkout lady that she has 6 kids under the age of ten, all boys. "The Lord didn't bless me with girls, but I love every one of them very much." The boy was noodling around with her ring of car keys, lost in play. After a pause she laughed and said, "As the only woman at my house it's like I'm Cinderella in my castle!"

The boy immediately perked up, looked at her and shouted, "Bwaaah! Mom, you don't have a castle!"

I burst out laughing. Kids. You can't even have a pretend dream, before they puncture it with pure pragmatism, lol.

With new neighbors, one of the goals for this week was to purchase and then install curtains. The purchase was a major ordeal because I hate curtains and also because I hate spending money. Installing them was an ordeal because I don't have a stool to step on and I have to tiptoe on tottery things like stack of books or a tippy folding chair. Accident waiting to happen.

My windows are big but half of the light is obscured because of the old fashioned metal awnings. I hated to lose more light. I also didn't want to weigh down the room with more fabric. It's small enough as it is.

I was satisfied with getting two long white cotton curtains with loops on top. I got a third curtain of sand color in a kind of silk nylon. After much huffing and curtain rods falling on my head, missed threaded loops...I finally got them up and they look pretty good.

My cats are sleeping on the couch on the freshly laundered throw, and someone next door is cutting the grass in the sunset evening. It's windy and cool, which is great because humid and warm in spring in Georgia means thunderstorms and tornadoes. It is a nice evening and I plan to study for the Faith Group meeting on Sunday. I can only count this evening and tomorrow as the remaining free days of vacation, and it sure has been a great one.

Snow, winter, and spring

The above is a screen shot from the WCSH-6 tower cam. There is a howling snowstorm in Portland Maine right now, my old stomping grounds (actually 17 miles to the city's north.) It is not fit for man nor beast out there. And by the looks of the empty streets, not for cars, either.

Chicago is expected to have had the snowiest February on record as their storm and this month closes out. "Wednesday's slushy snowfall at O'Hare International Airport sent the February 2011 snowfall total there to 27.0 inches putting it within 0.8" of the city's all-time February snowfall total of 27.8" established 116 years ago back in 1896.  With significant snow expected to arrive in the city tonight that record should easily fall by the wayside, elevating February 2011 to the month's snowfall leader."

I hate snow. I really, really hate it. I suppose that comes from a lifetime of living in it, and trying to make a living in it. It was the years of running the newspaper that did me in on snow. No matter what, the paper had to be gotten to the printer by a certain time even if it was howling snow outside. It had to be delivered even if the sane people were all hunkered down. I didn't mind it so much as a teacher, of course, because we were allowed to stay home when it got too bad. But doing the paper forced me to ignore all weather and keep trucking along irrespective of the cold, poor visibility, danger, or personal choice.

I moved to Georgia and with only a couple of exceptions have been free of dealing with snow for the four and a half years I've been here. I enjoy spring, not dread it because another storm is coming. The dogwoods are blooming now. The crocuses are coming up and the tiger lilies and daffodils are hurtling above ground at breakneck speeds. Next up will be the pear tree blossoms.

It is not always possible to move to where the weather suits your clothes, as the song said. So I admire the stalwart perseverance of those who literally plow through it year after year. I applaud those who stay positive in the face of dark storms one after another. And in the end the sun will shine on a warm spring day...sometime. That is always something to look forward to.

Here is some prettiness to keep the northern friends anticipating their own bounty.

From my backyard last March

Pear blossoms

The driveway has a row of tiger lilies

Snow in Georgia

We had a pretty big snowstorm here in North Georgia last night. Though the mountains to the north of us always get some snow, here south of I-85 rarely do. It is a big deal for the folks here to receive this much on the ground. Hopefully not too many people lost power. I did hear of one car flip accident nearby last night, hope that turned out OK.

I lived in New England for so many years, Maine mostly, that I had grown to dislike snow and everything about it by the time I relocated to Georgia. I still dislike it but I can bear with this because it is already melting. The mounds fall off the branches onto my metal awnings with a PLONK and the dripping from the gutters sounds like rain. It is a good sound because it means that the snow will be gone by tomorrow. Ahhh, living in the south is fine.

My side yard

My front yard

My back yard

My birdfeeder!

FInally emerging out of the dark. Birds sing. Coffee is hot

Well. That's over!

Power outage for 12 hours Sunday into Monday morning, and out again later Monday morning till ... just now. We received 5-7 inches, some areas receiving the most snow since records began in 1880.

More here

Scenes from the Georgia snowstorm

This turned out to be a legitimate snowstorm. We got 5 inches! That is a lot by any standard, but down south where they don't plow, it's a LOT.

I had just returned from church at 12:30 and spent the next few hours inside from the sleety rain happily making apple crisp, butternut squash soup, rice with vegetables, brussels sprouts and green beans. About an hour after I got home it started to snow, and it came down fast to beat the band. I was in the middle of baking the crisp when the power went out. Bummer!

I did jump in my truck and scooted over to a couple of elderly ladies homes who live alone. I brought water with me since they were on a well, and made sure they had enough candles. I knew both had gas heat so at least they would be warm.

The power stayed out until 3:15 am, stayed on for a few minutes, and went off again until 4:30 am. Twelve hours without power. I am glad I have gas heat so I was warm, and had plenty of candles so I read for a good while.

Now it's the day after and it's pretty and all that but snow snow go away come again another...never.

Ho Ho Ho Here is the Snow!

We had snow predicted and here it is. It started about on time when the weather guys said it would but it is coming down pretty hard. It went from non-starter to grass covered within 45 minutes. These shots are of my back yard and side yard.

Snow coming today

The big BIG story is that we are going to get snow today. Doom. Armageddon. 1-2 inches. Now, snow here is not unheard of. An elderly friend of mine says that back in the day they used to get a couple of good storms each winter, bringing two to three inches. However there have not been any storms, not even any snow making it to the ground, for the last few years.

This is the third winter I've been in North Georgia and once, in the first winter in 2007, I had to scrape ice off my windshield, using only my credit card to do it. That's about it for wintry precipitation.

So this winter weather system that is already dumping snow in ARK, TN and Miss now heading our way is freaking out the Georgians. The 11 o'clock news led with the ubiquitous news story about the weather, first showing the heavy machinery at the Atlanta airport. "Look!", the news guy said, pointing excitedly through the chain link fence, "these trucks that can be outfitted with sand and salt!" Next, showing radar maps with ominous looking swirls of fast moving clouds traveling over boxed off counties in the path of this coming destruction, the weather forecaster breathlessly described what happens when snow comes down; "Bridges freeze first, so watch out!" Then the news crew went to the grocery store, where people usually go to buy bread and milk and water, the news guy explained. Yes, he actually explained why so many people were at the store putting bread and milk into their carts. "Buggies", sorry, that is the correct terminology down here. And then he repeated the bread-milk-water survival list.

Incredibly he chose the one person in the store to interview who was doubting if not skeptical that anything would even make it to the ground. Rather than interview another person, they just put up a ticker at the bottom of the screen with her name, "Jane Smith" and below that, "Not preparing for storm."

I laughed so hard I almost dumped my laptop of my stomach. It just looked so funny ... "Not preparing for storm." LOL. She said she will believe it when she sees it.

I wonder if she was from Maine.

Today was 67 degrees and by the weekend it will be 70 so the likelihood of any white stuff hanging around is less than zero, but I know the locals get excited at the prospect, they love snow because it's so rare and always sort of a festive event.

Left, my previous domicile in Maine home of car-burying snow. Today, I'm not scared of driving in the wind-driven icy snow. I'm more scared of everybody else who will be out there, newbies to the asphalt realities of black ice.

Where I work...now

As my former fellow townsfolk struggle today with the heavy snowfall back in Gray, Maine, this photo was taken by my friend (who is so talented).

It shows the window through which I looked out on from my old office and it the scene that would be greeting me today, had I not moved a few months ago to NE Georgia. Heavy snow fell and late this afternoon a state of emergency was declared by the Governor.



This is what I look out on as I work, now, at one of my part-time jobs. As I leave work this late afternoon, this scene is what greets me. I am lucky, no?