My cats like to swarm when we leave the house. I think they’re laboring under the impression that if they swarm us enough times, we’ll give in to their demands to be let inside permanently, and if Seymour weren’t so horribly allergic, maybe we would.
They don’t play fair – there’s nothing more tempting than an adorable kitty cat. But I stayed strong in the face of such manipulation. They won’t stay mad at me for long, right? 😀
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
It’s the snowpocalypse!
That’s right, we’re finally getting our share of snow here in the Midwest, and boy, do I wish the forecast had been right the first time. That forecast had most of the snow falling overnight, meaning I wouldn’t have to drive in it. But the revised forecast had it starting this morning, and it came pretty much when they said it would.
It hasn’t let up since.
I’ve been documenting it on Instagram all day, and I’ll probably post another picture just before I leave. Suffice it to say, we’ve had quite a bit of snow in a short amount of time, and it ain’t even close to over. *sigh*
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
Last night we had our first major snow storm in a while.
We were supposed to get five to nine inches, but from the looks of things, we got less than half that. Still, the wind has been wicked. I hate to think what the drifts are like out there.
But it’s okay – this has been the perfect weekend for snuggling up under a blanket with a good book and a cup of tea. 🙂
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
Since I’ve been moaning about the state of the snow round these parts, I figured a picture of it might be appropriate:
Believe it or not, this is the pretty snow. The ugly snow is completely black and fills the ditches along my commute. Yuck.
How’s winter treating you?
(c) 2015. All rights reserved.
It snowed here yesterday. October is far too early for snow, in my opinion. If you ask me, the first – and last – snowfall should occur on December 24. It should hang around for Christmas, but then it needs to vamoose on December 26 so as not to interfere with my travel plans.
Clearly I live in the wrong state. Sadly, my dreams of wintering somewhere more tropical are not likely to come true any time soon.
This little burst of winter got me thinking, though, about winters past. I didn’t always hate the snow and the cold. When I was a kid, I used to relish them. I loved sledding and ice skating and building snow forts. I loved walking atop the frozen snow in my neighbors’ yards on my way to and from school, my stomach quivering as I wondered how long it would be before I plunged ankle-deep into a frosty hole.
Only in Iowa can it be 80° one day and snowing the next. While it wasn’t 80° where I was yesterday, it was in other parts of the state, according to two of my friends down in southern Iowa. And rumor has it that the temperature dropped 40 degrees in four hours. That’s pretty quick!
So, to recap: The weekend and the first part of the week were sunny, warm, and absolutely gorgeous, leaving us all thinking that winter skipped spring altogether and decided that summer should just follow directly this year. But now Winter, she’s a-back. With a vengeance.
Me no likey.
I took all these – and a few others – over the course of the morning.
Snow Cat (Photo credit: clickclique)
I’ve had it with winter. Specifically, I’ve had it with all the white crap Mother Nature keeps dumping on us. I nearly got stuck at work yesterday because the city does such a lousy job clearing the streets, and the same thing happened again today. After narrowly avoiding the embarrassment of having to ask my boss to give me a push, what happened? I came home and promptly got stuck in the mouth of my driveway, with the back end of my van sticking out into our very narrow street.
I was stuck so tight that after the kids and I tried to get out for about ten minutes, I went across the street and asked the neighbor for help (Seymour wasn’t home yet). It took the two of us a good half hour and maybe a little more to get my van free. The city I live in (yes, I know, it’s a small town, but that’s how we refer to our municipal government) doesn’t do any better when it comes to cleaning streets than the city I work in. So in short, I’ve had it with winter.
Now, don’t get me wrong. When the sun shines on newly fallen snow and it sparkles like a thousand diamonds, I love it as much as the next person. I appreciate the beauty of snow. However, I hate dealing with it. I hate driving in it. I hate shoveling it. I hate cleaning it off of my car.
But at times like these, I often think of a joke my dad shared with me once. It’s about winter in Iowa and, given the trials I’ve had with the snow today and the fact that it was three years ago today that I lost him, this seems like a good time to share it again. I’ve posted it before, but here it is again in all its snowy glory:
Well, the Class 3 Kill Storm arrived in the night and is even now shrieking outside my window with a passion even a banshee would envy (or possibly admire). Since I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hades of getting to work today, I am snuggled up under my favorite down blanket while the boys play games and Seymour bakes Christmas cookies (I’m still sick – I have no business baking).
I’ve seen worse winter storms, but this one is truly nothing to sniff at. I braved the weather to make a quick trip to the grocery store for chili supplies and go juice with a side trip to the gas station to procure some go juice for the snow blower as well, and it’s fierce out there. I’m glad I decided to stay home today and not brave the weather all the way to work and back. I’m even more glad that Seymour was able to turn around safely and make it back home after the snow plow he was following got stuck. For the record, that was the third one this morning – two others went in the ditch just outside of town early this morning and the accident shut down the highway for a while.
Suddenly they all died. The end. 