 |
| 25 February 2022 |
It has been a long, cold winter. Well, cold by Little Rhody standards, positively spring-like for those of you living in what the Air Force liked to call the Northern Tier states (those along the border with the Great White Up, what some of you know as Canada).
No doubt the official record keepers (who only seem to record the temperatures at airports) might deny it, but I saw a minus sign in front of the single digit recording the outside air temperature (I do believe it was -3° F¹), which is the coldest I've experienced here in my wee town by the bay since moving here back at the turn of the century. (Damn, I can actually use that phrase ... It was 1999, for those of you keeping track.)
Though we haven't had a huge amount of snow, we've had a number of snow storms. My gauge for such things is to see how much snow is piled up in the parking lot at work. If the piles remain over a period of months it means two things: 1) it's been cold enough to keep it from all melting, and 2) the pile gets replenished periodically.
Honestly, I've lost count of how many times it has snowed here this year (a couple of the storms did dump close to a foot of the white stuff on us, that's a foot per storm). Generally it doesn't stay long, except in those heaps thrown up by the plows in a big parking lot. Always seems to warm up enough to rain and wash most of the snow away, before the temperature drops back down into the twenties, where it has seemed to stay all winter.
 |
| 09 March 2022 |
On Friday it got over 70°, so I'm guessing those big piles will be gone by Monday. Ah well, while I like winter perhaps more than your average old guy, it's good to see signs of spring.
 |
| 12 March 2022 |
Hard to believe that photo was taken a week ago. We had some pretty frisky wind to go with that one. Snow was falling damned near horizontally. By morning a lot of the snow had been blown to parts unknown so it was hard to tell just how much we got. Enough to whiten the ground, but as you can see in the photo above, the parking lot is wet, not white. So were the roads, cold enough to snow, not cold enough to make the roads nasty.
A good thing, trust me.
I took the photo above one fine morning as I was heading aloft to get ready for work. I'd just served Anya her breakfast when I saw movement out the front windows. Six deer coming from parts unknown, heading off to the small patch of woods east of my position.
They looked tired, almost like a patrol coming in from a long and harrowing night. Two of them actually came up onto the lawn in front of that tall topiary and commenced to fighting. Surprised me it did, I've seen them do that on film but never live and in person, and me with a seat ring-side!
On their hand legs, hooves lashing out, nobody landed a "punch" and the Bambi donnybrook quickly subsided. When I told The Nuke of that, she said, "Crazy! I can't believe they were airing their dirty laundry in public."
Yeah, they couldn't wait until they got home?
After staggering out of Blue upon arrival at Chez Sarge after a rather long work week Friday instant, I happened to notice green stuff poking up from the mulch. Yup, daffodils.
So I snapped a photo to send to The Missus Herself, who is still in California for another couple of days, as I know she likes to see her flowers coming back to life in the spring.
Friday was beautiful, Saturday foggy and rainy but with very mild temperatures. As I write, it is the last full day of winter by the calendar and the position of the sun. (I consider March to be a spring month, regardless of the actual weather.)
As you read this, 'tis the first day of Spring.
Anya and I shall celebrate.
 |
| Sun feels good, doesn't it Dad? |
Then a week and a half after The Missus Herself comes home, I'm off to California myself, to do some more work aboard this lady -
 |
| USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) departing Pearl Harbor at sunrise U.S. Navy Photo |
Enjoy your Sunday.
¹ You weren't seriously expecting to see a "C" there were you? What am I, European?
Having lived in the Finger Lakes in the late '50s over several winters and GFAFB (which put everything else to shame) for a couple of 'em during the mid-60s, I feel this bubble of warm reminiscence whenever I see pics of a light dusting, trying to remember just where I put my shovel.
ReplyDeleteRegards from the west coast of Florida.
Ever heard the story of the Northerner who was retiring? He tied a snow shovel to the front of his car. Next door neighbor looked at it and asked, "Why the snow shovel?" The retiree said, "I'm going to start driving south, the first place I come to where someone points at the shovel and asks, 'What's that?' That's where I'm going to live."
DeleteI really should know better than to read here while drinking fluids...sigh...
Delete🤣
DeleteWe're not yet ready to move the snowthrower to the back of the shed, but that time of year is getting close.
ReplyDeleteAs of yesterday the raspberry canes are pruned, last year's strawberries are gone and the vertical growing system is ready for this years plants to arrive.
Deer Martial Arts. I was looking at the bedded down neighborhood deer posse and saw a deer walk up to a bedded deer, then pause and lash out with a front hoof. The bedded down deer got up and the aggressor deer lay down in the exact spot.
My mind provided the line, "Move. You're in my spot."
"Shane, there's too many deer."
Aggression and conflict, every species experience those, few take it to the extreme.
DeleteThe last two and a half months were four to six degrees below average temps while snowfall is at average. We won't see green in the lawns until next month. That DDG just looks.....wrong....somehow. Anya is a good looking feline Sarge.
ReplyDeleteThe ship is odd looking, but I'm sure the Burkes look odd to someone who spent time on WWII cans.
DeleteI'm ready for your arrival. Side boys on standby, bosun's pipe warmed up, Guinness is either cold or warm as you may choose.
ReplyDelete😁
DeleteWe've had a few low teen days and even a single digit or two. No snow to speak of, but lots of wind. Which makes those days even more "Speshul!". But it's Texas, if you don't like the weather, wait a minute, it'll change. And it has...frequently.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, wind, we've had far too much of that over the past few months!
Deletewill try to make a next post considering Russo-Ukrainian war
ReplyDeleteand send it to Sarge's mail
I look forward to it.
DeleteWhile I enjoy sitting inside and watching it snow, as I get older I am less enthusiastic about driving in the stuff...but better snow than freezing rain or ice. However, although I get pretty wet on rainy days in and out of the car, I much prefer them to cold and wind. We have had a bunch of windy days here, and I am gonna have to find a tree guy to take down the pine on the end of the house that has been dropping branches whenever there was a light breeze over the past year and about a month ago it lost it's top into the next pine over. I can take a hint, time to come down...sigh...
ReplyDeleteThe birds (black birds, cardinals, robins, and chickadees) are all yelling at each other every morning when I go out to go to work. Quite deafening it was the other day. I'm waiting to hear the spring peepers...none yet.
We have had enough rain and warm weather (upper 60's and low 70's!!) over the past week that all my snow is melted, and running down hill. The dip in the lawns between me and the folks to the north is running bank-full, and if it keeps this up it might become a ditch. Water is moving right along too!
Enjoy the change in the weather Sarge.
And that is a beautiful picture of Miss Anya!!!
Another warm weather day here, though cloudy, it's nice.
DeleteAnya is a lovely girl. Thanks.
Snow? What is this this snow of which you speak? In all seriousness where I live in the south of England we haven't had a cold/snowy winter for over 11 years now. We seem to have three seasons now. Spring, summer and autumn and spring arrives quite a few weeks earlier than it used to when I was a lad.
ReplyDeleteRetired
Only three seasons in England?
DeleteSnow is definitely an acquired taste.
In the south of England it seems to be so. The north of the UK gets snow but we generally have a mild climate in the south. I agree about snow being an acquired taste. I was in Boston/NYC in February 2017 and endured a blizzard that kept me in my hotel for two days.
DeleteRetired
Stuck in a hotel during a blizzard? No, just no.
DeleteI remember that particular storm rather well. Nasty.
The loader stays on the tractor, until mid April. I don't trust Nature.
ReplyDeleteWell, you are in the Northern Tier, so I wouldn't jump the gun either!
Delete(Don McCollor)...Then there is a story of a band in GFND midwinter to give a show. Staying in a cheap hotel (one story, with the rooms opening out on the parking lot). They had to call the front desk to have somebody sent over to shovel the snow away from their door so they could get out of their room...
DeleteI've seen that!
DeleteSarge, here at Old Home the Wild Flowers are all sprouting up including the daffodils, which are my mother's favorites. It is nice to see Spring (although we could still use all the rain we can get).
ReplyDeleteWe've had no lack of rain along with the snow. A rather wet winter.
DeleteI'm wondering if you know my old navy buddy Hannon Jacob? He also works on the Zumwalt class and makes the occasional trip out to San Diego.
ReplyDeleteI don't know him, we are legion. Also there are multiple companies involved.
Delete