Beauty in the Snow

Yeah, it's been snowy for a week now and I guess if I got up early and drove in it every day I would be more ready to see it gone but those aren't my circumstances. To be honest, I think I didn't mind it too much even when I did have to get up and drive in it daily. I was raised in So Cal and Hawaii and that "good" weather gets just plain boring.

I love all the seasons and this year, having no kids to chase after and being unemployed I can actually enjoy the snow - from the protection of my warm little house, with my electric fireplace. It's started last Friday and is snowing right now, Sunday evening. And it still thrills me.

A year or two ago I got a bird feeder that the birds will actually use and since then I have a birdy party every day. And being an avid photographer with a new DSLR with a long zoom lens (although I'd love an even longer one!) I've been enjoying taking pictures of my new friends. With the variety of birds, squirrels and an occasional bunny I sometimes feel like Snow White.

I've noticed that when the temp drops much below freezing the birdies don't come out. But when it's warm enough and just snowing (not raining) the birdies come out in force. At one point the other day I tiptoed into my bedroom to sneak some shots and found Cookie (my cat) laying by the french doors, enjoying the show herself. The birds were coming in real close, just outside the doors to get out of the snow under the tree and under the eaves. I have a suet block in the near tree too, to attract them. I saw some red birds that I've never noticed before on the feeder and got pictures of them. They were red house finches, which I've never seen around before. They've probably been here but the red is just brighter with the white background to light them up. Occasionally the nasty starlings would come around and bother everyone, although they do take pretty nice pictures. One of my favorites, the Northern Flicker, a woodpecker cousin, came by too. Then there were the usual chickadees, sparrows, blue jays, squirrels, crows, towhees, cowbirds and juncos. Even a family of bright yellow grosbeaks came by, but they took off before I could get a shot of them.

Ah - the life of the unemployed!

Point - Counterpoint

I feel I need to blog something regarding a past blog - one of Rick's, that is.

On Friday, December 19, 2008 he had a blog entitled "Snow, Ice, and Radio Announcers" and I feel there is a thought in it that I need to counterpoint:

"Yesterday was a particularly snowy day, prompting a lot of worry-warts to leave work early "so they could make it home". Yeah, yeah... The snow was all of an inch deep, but whatever."

My thoughts on this particular point, since I have a "problem" giving people the benefit of the doubt is that some people are uncomfortable driving on this icy stuff. Even after having done it for a week they may still be apprehensive and have never been very skilled. They may live on a particularly hairy hill that is difficult to traverse under icy or snowy conditions. They may get off after dark, meaning after the slushy roads that existed at 2:30 freeze hard and turn to sheer ice by 4 or 5 PM. When I worked, although I'm not too uncomfortable driving in those conditions I was one of those who got off after dark and, if given the opportunity, I would gladly leave when the roads were still mostly slush. I have a hill to climb and a very icy neighborhood to finally drive through. I do not consider myself a worry-wart. I just prefer to drive under better conditions if given the choice.

"And that - is the rest of the story. Good Day."

Bits and Pieces

I know - here I am again, not blogging for weeks. Well, life has been too interesting in some areas and not interesting enough in others. There are big things taking place in my children's lives that I'm not really free to blog. And then my own life is kind of on hold - my work, my business, my life.

So, to follow the theme of bits and pieces:

• I have two weekly family obligations now - I babysit Joe and Shayne on Fridays and on Tuesdays Heather, Hunter and I go shopping together. I'm enjoying both so far.


• My business is at a standstill, I intend to advertise in the yellow pages and maybe the local newspaper when I have some available funds. In the meantime, I'm looking into selling photography, online and locally. The trick is finding the right outlets. Rick has been saying I should contact the local paper to see if they'll do a little story on me and my fledgling business. Hey - free advertising, right?


• We have been in a deep freeze since the weekend and it's supposed to continue at least through next weekend. As usual, we have the cold temps but not the precip. We did get just enough snow to make everything slick and it refreezes every night where the sun hit and melted during the day. Our next chance for snow is tonight or tomorrow. That's fine - I'm ready - bring it on!


• I have an offspring going in for some exploratory surgery this Friday, laproscopically to begin, then more if needed. It will hopefully ease this person's mind and eliminate some frustrating symptoms. They will be staying overnight.


• Rick and I, his daughter and her boyfriend flew over Snoqualmie and Blewett passes last wknd to Leavenworth, a Bavarian village just over the Cacsade mts from us. We had an interesting day but it was a little too crowded for my taste, even though the crowds were supposedly half of the normal Xmas wknd crowds. Then we flew back that evening over Steven's pass. Basically the whole day was spent in the snow on both sides of the mts, in the car and on foot. Brrr!


• I'm still putting together things to send to family members that I reconnected with last month. Honest - I'm working on it!


• I updated our smugmug galleries, in particular the "Family" category that I had only one gallery in, despite having the mob that I do. That is now corrected and the most popular person in the family according to "hits" on our website? - Joe!


• Rick's cousin lost a cat to a coyote, then miraculously got her back! Turns out it was someone else's cat that was in their yard that was attacked, their "Snowball" (no - she's black) was sleeping in a closet and wasn't discovered for a couple days!


• Another of my offspring is having serious marriage difficulties and is leaning on family to get through it. As much as we'd like to see things work out, it doesn't look hopeful. But we'll be there regardless.


• My Montero is down at Dale's, he's always offering to help me sell my vehicles. Well, this one just isn't getting any attention, I had more interest after I raised the price so I just raised it again, we'll see. I also have the title to the van I drove up from Calif so may proceed on that sale as well. I'm just waiting for the ice to dissipate first, I don't want anyone test-driving it right now.


• Here's a rant - why do they have to screw things up that you've used for years? In this case I'm talking about ground turkey chubs. I've been using them to make all my hamburger dishes since the 80's. Now everything I make from it tastes tainted. The "meat" doesn't look the same either. So, after all these years I'm switching back to ground beef. I could spend $4/lb to get the better ground turkey but part of the reason I initially switched was cost and that's no less a factor still.

Like I said - bits and pieces. I hope that covers everything. Maybe something bigger will jump in my face and lead me to a more interesting blog.