 |
| Eis und Schnee auf Bäumen auf dem Großen Feldberg im Naturpark Taunus. (Source) |
I mean I've done that a lot, but last weekend I just couldn't face it, I'm getting old I guess. So we had planned to head into the frozen north today. However, Mother Nature had different plans.
Where I live...
 |
| (Source) |
 |
| (Source) |
These days a heavy snowfall isn't enough to keep the bad drivers at home, so it didn't seem worth the candle to make the attempt. When I called my Mom to tell her, she laughed as she was about to call me to tell me to stay home!
As is said, Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit.
I've never been one to trifle with the elements, so it's home I'll be staying. If you live in the area which is expected to get hit with this winter storm, be careful out there. Seriously, much like the sea, winter would just as soon kill you as look at you.
On the upside, I'm off for three days this weekend. So I might spare you a rerun. I mean I'll have the time.
Be seeing you.
I have lived in places where it snowed ( upstate New York ) and place where snow was a rare visitor; much prefer the second. Have fun building snow people and then going inside for a warm, reinforced drink.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
I don't mind the snow all that much. Fortunately it has proven to be not as bad in Little Rhody as it is in the northern parts of New England.
DeleteP.S.: Really nice picture at the top of the post.
ReplyDeletePaul
Yeah, that photo leaped out at me when I searched Google Images for snow.
DeleteOh ya....... traveling by vehicle when the forecast is for more than 5 inches of that white stuff, not a good move. Discretion is the better part of valor Sarge. Only eleven inches here so far, last year at this time we had ten but ended with seventy eight inches for the season with twenty five arriving in the first half of April. That new snow thrower strategy is working so far. Stay warm and remember hot drinks!
ReplyDeleteI'm all about discretion. The older I get, the less brave I get.
DeleteThere are 3 types of people who care deeply about projected weather. Those who aviate and support, those who sail the seas and paratroopers. The Marines just done care.
ReplyDeleteStay safe, skype your mom.
Mileage doesn't mean what it used to. Since I started field support about 21 years ago, driving all day to work is normal. It's all about what you know you can do, and if you can't do it, avoid going. I haven't had that luxury in a while. I wouldn't drive in snow storms if I could avoid it. The last time I drove in a whiteout, the aspect change from horizontal road to 45 degree slope of the ditch happened so fast, I couldn't correct. The inner ear isn't as accurate as the M-1 eyeball.
DeleteToday's menu: 165 miles to work on an issue, then 165 miles back to the homestead. It's like going to the grocery store. Plus side: I get to see miles and miles of Texas!!
Cap'n - Roger that on the Marines.
DeleteI'll talk with my Mom, she does not care for modern things like Skype, no matter how hard I try to sell her on the idea. Won't have a computer in the house, her cell phone is a flip phone.
But God Bless her, that's all she wants, all she needs. I admire that.
STxAR - 165 miles to work, then back again?
DeleteUm, no thanks. But hey, if you enjoy what you're doing, why not?
Next time you visit her, Skype the WSO from her house and have her chat with the GGK's from your cell phone. That might win her over...or maybe not.
Delete75 here yesterday, just to rub it in...a little.
That might work, we'll give it a try.
Delete75°, in January? Wow. I don't mind the cold, much. Though there are days...
Hey AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteYou did good not traveling in that weather, granted you are from "The Frozen North" and know how to drive in the stuff, why tempt fate...unless you are after a good blog post ;) Seriously stay home and skype your mom and sip something warm in the safety of your house. Just plan another trip out there when the weather cooperates.
I only tempt Fate when she's not looking. Trouble is, she's always looking.
DeleteIf only Mom had Skype (see above).
Discretion is a good idea when it comes to challenging Mother Nature.
ReplyDeleteKinda like the old song, "I fought the law and the law won."
DeleteSubstitute Mother Nature for the law, I learned my lesson long ago. One or two "Wow, that was close" made me a bit more circumspect when "challenging" the weather.
With me at the old house, and my allergies, it was "I fought the lawn and the lawn won."
DeleteHaving to dress up like I was preparing to shut down a meth lab, surrounded by poison oak and ivy and gosh-knows-what...
Man, that must have been a sight.
Delete"Hey honey, come look. Aliens have landed in the neighbor's yard!"
Well, when I first started fighting I wore my helmet while on the riding lawnmower to purposely hit all the low branches. I may not have been the neighbor the neighbors were hoping for....
DeleteNow, THAT's the Beans we all know and love!
DeleteBeans - I would have paid good money to see your neighbors' faces.
Deletejuvat - Yup, that's our man!
DeleteThe first weekend we had the house, we were working on the yard. One of the neighbors strolled up, beer in one hand, cig in the other and said, "Glad you're finally taking care of your house." Which had been vacant for 6 months.
DeleteHated our neighbors. Greatly. There was the one who mowed incessantly. There was the one with the pack of insane poodles. There was the Vet(erinarian) who had 'deaf' dogs and rang bells and other loud noise makers all night long in order to 'call' them. And the hippy-dippy jerks who created the great raccoon invasion.
In retrospect, my apartment dwelling neighbors aren't so bad, well, except for the loud screaming drunken drugged cigar smoking idiot next door.
Wow, those were some neighbors.
DeleteI'm so glad Monday is a holiday. I am planning on staying inside & hibernating! I have chicken ready for the crockpot, which I'll cook tonight. And I have sliced Turkey for sandwiches. Milk, bread, bourbon. Lanterns, blankets, hot tea! And several new books to keep me occupied. I should be all set! Everyone please be safe!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are well prepared Mary!
DeleteDiscretion is the better part of valor.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteI like being able to see the snow at a distance ...on the mountains.
ReplyDeleteI will visit it on a nice day, sometimes.
At my kids' houses it's the same, provided you can actually see the mountains on that day. Lotta haze and what-not in the Central Valley.
DeleteSaw actual snow on December 23rd, 1989. Ice, snow, the whole 9 yards. Trimmed my frozen bushes with a 2x4, cut the lawn by having the dog powerslide all over the areas needing mowing, made a 6" snowman. While wearing shorts and a tshirt and sneakers.
ReplyDeleteFirst time. Hope it's the last time. Maybe not with the Solar Super Minimum coming, combined with the rapid shift of the magnetic poles...
Wow!
DeleteYeah, Florida gets the occasional weather glitch. Hey, with that solar thing coming, maybe mammoth hunting will get popular again.
What? There are no mammoths?
The South Koreans are working on them. Probably just a few years away. Wouldn't be surprised if it was part of the Winter Combat Equipment of the ROK a few years after that. Wooly Mammoths with friggin laser beams on their heads...
DeleteThat would be frigging awesome!
DeleteWith age comes wisdom?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am well seasoned.
Delete;)
So, you will have to keep up live person reporting of Snomaggedon or Apocalypse Snow or whatever they're calling it. Got your preps for French Toast?
ReplyDeleteWe're still looking at 3 to 5", not really the icy apocalypse that I'm sure The Weather Channel likes to carry on about.
DeleteFrench toast? Nah, with us it's more like Yaki Mandu as a wintry treat, it's the Korean influence.
But there might be updates throughout the day, if it's worth the effort that is. Stay tuned!
Looking forward to reports from the on the scene reporter.
DeletePaul
Well now I guess I have to, wouldn't want to disappoint you and Beans!
DeleteI personally don't eat French Toast. I do Lost Bread (which is just basically French toast with sugar instead of syrup on top, and cinnamon and a smidge of nutmeg.) And since we don't get really bad weather very often, I don't eat it very often.
DeleteWell, being from Vermont, I am rather partial to maple syrup, the real stuff that is.
DeleteThough Lost Bread sounds yummy.
Good for you on not going to see Mom. Vermont in deep snow is only fun on sunny days when heading to the slopes.
ReplyDeleteThis from someone who learned to drive in Oneonta NY which has weak sunshine May through October, and snow the rest of the time.
We are supposed to get 1-6" (talk about a range!!) tomorrow, but I see Schenectady/Albany NY area is due to get 12-24". Glad I am not doing Homecare nursing there tomorrow. Bee there, done that, like you, getting older and smarter. So tomorrow I will do my routine 200 miles in W MI, where it is supposed to snow more the further south ya go. So I am going North.
Good idea to head away from the white stuff. Wants to kill you it does. DAMHIK.
DeleteA low of minus four degrees? In other words: "brisk"!
ReplyDeleteBrisk indeed. One could almost say, "bracing"!
DeleteSnow removal.
ReplyDeleteThose who dispense advice via the internet had mentioned that an electric leaf blower can be used to clear away a small amount of light and fluffy snow.
The snowfall in Philly a few days ago fit the description perfectly.
The advice dispensers never mentioned that taking the battery powered leaf blower from the unheated shed and switching it on can cause the center of the impeller to self destruct because cold plastic.
The only impeller I could find was in Australia, and cost $ 50.00 plus shipping.
The new leaf blower showed up a couple of days ago and won't ever get used for snow removal.
Life is an unending series of lessons. Until the lessons stop.
We are supposed to see six or seven degrees here in Philly during Sunday night. I know there are colder parts of the United States, but I don't live there.
And I am much more interested in risk management than when I was much younger.
Good post.
Risk management is a life style at our age John.
DeleteSix or seven, cold enough for me!
Smart man. Whenever I hear about traveling in the snow, I think of this story: https://abcnews.go.com/2020/kati-kim-tells-heart-wrenching-story-family-ended/story?id=12884927 This happened just past my sister's house so I know that area well. No need to push it, and the visit can wait- until spring if necessary!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just think of the Donner party. Bon Appetit!
DeleteOh, sorry, just realized that was tasteless...
DeleteOr in poor taste...
DeleteWhen I think about the Donner party I get choked up.
DeleteBut the Heimlich Maneuver fixes that.
"If I didn't have poor taste, I'd have no taste at all."
Good ones Bean.
Tuna - I remember that. Bad weather is one thing, bad weather in the mountains is a whole other level of frightening.
DeleteAnd now it looks like we're not going to get much snow, and that comes in the wee hours of Sunday, but it is going to be deuced cold.