Storm Cellar

Not in California Anymore

Hard to believe that we had temperatures in the 60s and spring plants were starting to break ground only a couple weeks ago. It seems the missing week in February was mis-filed into mid-March and we now have to deal with that. We are certainly still in the full and unrelenting grasp on winter. We canceled service yesterday in Worcester which is only the second time in the eleven years I’ve been here. The funny thing is no one complained about it and if there is one thing Worcester takes an almost perverse pride in is complaining.

Let me Think About This

I spent the entire day ensconced in the Man Cave which may have been too much. I never thought I’d say that about a room where I’m surrounded by movies and a huge, theater like television, but apparently you can get too much of a good thing. I polished off the last of my huge stack of Christmas gift movies and also finished the puzzle I started last week. It was missing the inevitable one piece which is probably working its way through Buddy’s digestive system right now. If it’s on the floor it belongs to him and he rarely waits to see if something is edible before it starts its journey through his gastro-intestinal tract.

Puzzle Minus Buddy's Toll

He did live up to his name yesterday and provided able company throughout the storm. The low pressure freaked him out a little but he was fine as long as I was close. I didn’t close the basement door well enough Monday night and I awoke to find him cowering at my bedside as the storm was starting up. He does love the snow though and serially begged me all day long to go outside so he could dive through the drifts. I started taking the accompanying pictures to chronicle the snow fall.

We ended up with a little over fifteen inches on our hilltop along with some gale force winds. It switched over to sleet late in the afternoon so I went out with the snow blower before it got weighed down too much. The neighbor across the street pulled up while I was out there so I opened up his driveway for him as well, the snow banks were impressive. I was back out there around 9pm as the weather dudes were predicting a flash freeze and I didn’t want to be hammering away at ice this morning. This was a much tougher job with heavier snow and I was exhausted by the time I was done. I was a little pissed when I saw some neighbors up the street actually blowing snow from their driveway back out onto the street. I felt affronted as a New Englander as that is what lame flatlanders do. They’re from Poland so I guess I’ll have to excuse them for not knowing the rules and traditions, but common sense should leak in at some point.

Disappearing Statue

New Jersey received a little less snow but it was still significantly different than their former California environs. This was the First Blog Reader’s first big snow storm and she was outside trying to help Wingman with the snow shoveling. I got the distinct impression he wasn’t too thrilled with the winter weather, being the native southern Californian he is. He did spend a few winters in Minneapolis so this was nothing new for him. My daughter, firmly in my wife’s camp when it comes to snow, was also not brimming over with praise for the weather.

Lending Dad a Hand

I finally finished Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein. I say finally because I usually sprint through a Sandford book and since this was a science fiction plot I figured I’d love it. I could tell what sections Sandford wrote because the characters were alive, interesting, and well worth caring about in typical Sandford manner. Unfortunately all too much of the book involved technical explanations of the physics involved in a trip to Saturn which I assume whoever the hell Ctein is penned. By the middle of the book I was able to recognize these sections and skipped over them to get to the plot. That involved a space race to Saturn pitting the US against the Chinese after aliens are detected there. It was a great story with a lot of twists and the aforementioned great characters, unfortunately its weighed down with the technical bits which I’m sure are fascinating to someone so inclined. I wasn’t, first time I’ve ever been disappointed in a Sandford book.

I’ve been staying in touch with Keene Friend during his hospital stay. He’s already been moved twice to new rooms and they had him up walking around yesterday. Someone also absconded with the magazines I’d brought up for him on Monday including the annual Sports illustrated swimsuit edition which was probably the motivation behind the theft. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much progress in knocking down the pneumonia.  He’s still very short of breath so please continue to keep him in your prayers.