summer ?

It seemed that Winter was not going to relinquish her grasp on us. She fought valiantly. The cold weather held on. It stayed cold and snowy for a long long time. People cried and bemoaned the weather.

Then, when winter did slightly relinquish her grasp on the temperature, the rains came. The cold retreated but the wind and rain moved in. Day after day the rain held on. There was talk about an ark. People cried and bemoaned the rain.

Finally, in the last day or so, the rains moved out (or so I thought) and the heat rushed in like an avenging army. It turned sweltering. Summer arrived with a vengeance. Temperatures ballooned into the 90's and 100's. (Just as I was starting the part about the rains leaving, it began thundering here.)

However, as the heat finally arrived, (lights flickering here .. might lose power) people cried and bemoaned the heat.

I am not sure where everyone has been, but usually, there is a period of cold (we call it winter) followed by milder wetter weather, (we call it Spring) and then the heat arrives and fans and A/C's begin to overwork (we call it Summer.) It has happened this was for a long time.

Some of you must be new to the planet.

Welcome to Earth, third rock from the sun.

is that a temperature ?

We woke this morning to 2° F or -17° C. I realize it has been colder. I realize it is colder in other places this morning. However, not one piece of that information makes my feet any warmer. It is just cold. It is days like today that almost make me want to rethink my 'winter is my favorite season' stand. Almost. It is just after 2PM here in KY and the temperature is all the way up to 19° F or -7° C. The weatherman has alluded to temperatures above 60° by Monday of next week. It will be raining, but it will be warmer.

Chella has brought the plague into the house. She insisted on going to see her BF when he was sick. This, of course, gave her the plague, which she immediately brought home to the rest of us. There is sniffling, sneezing, coughing, nose running, congestion. She decides to bring this to us less than two weeks before TJ and I will be auditioning to sing the National Anthem at Lexington Legends baseball games next season. The auditions will be held on Valentines day in the center of the walkway, in the wing of the busiest mall in Lexington. Every year over 400 audition and the Legends chose approximately 70 to sing at home games. This is my fourth time auditioning. I have sang the Anthem at a game for the past three years. It is a blast. Long time readers of my blog will remember a post in July of 2008 which included a video of last years performance.

Last night I sniffled my way through a practice. TJ said it would have been better without the sniffling. I told her that I had to breath. I just had too. We are medicating. I have a terrible time with colds and other respitory ailments. They seem to linger forever. This one will probably be lingering when I audition. Therefore, I better learn to sing it with the cold, rather than without. Just in case.

gorgeous kid

Her mom gave me permission to post this on the blog .. you can see her pic at Pixel-me.

In other news, the snow abates, but the cold continues. It was 8° when I got up this morning. Oldest daughter is still without power and branches from a large tree in her front yard are dropping on the house. Insurance company has been notified.

Depending on which weather forecaster you believe, we could have 50° on Monday or the next round of snow showers. Who knows? Time will tell. I am reminded of some weather bricks I saw once. They were miniature versions of regular bricks. They were on a piece of twine. The instructions read: If the bricks are wet, it is raining. If the bricks are white, it is snowing. If the bricks are dry, it is sunny, and so forth and so on. The weather I trust is the weather I see.

I'll be tickled when the news is the news and not the weather is the news.

How are things in your part of the world?

are ya tired of it yet ?

Weatherman says we will get more snow beginning tomorrow. This is a tree in my mom's front yard. She is about 35 miles from my house. She has power, but many Kentuckians do not.
This is her street. It is untouched by city snowplows or salt trucks. She lives about 2 blocks from one of the pricier neighborhoods in her town (pop. 280,000.) The building you can see in the background is a new elementary school.
This is my great nephew, Xavier. He is a card. He is my latest attempt. Kids are so much fun to draw.

just add water .. any water

The recipe for traffic disaster in Kentucky .. just add water .. any water ..

It can be something as treacherous as snow, sleet, or ice. However, it can be as minuscule as fog, drizzle, or misty rain. As long as there is water involved, it changes the whole dynamics of driving around here. Not that it is harder to drive in it, it is just that all the other idiots out there cant drive in it.

I saw a bumper sticker once that said: Why am I the only person on the planet that knows how to drive?

Last night/evening there were some insignificant flurries. There was NO accumulation. Still, the 11 o'clock news reported a sharp increase in the number of traffic accidents. They included everything from minor fender benders to cars being totaled.

It makes me want to stay off the roads completely. Snow cant do that. sleet cant do that. Rain cant do that. Crazy drivers can do it. I will avoid the accident by avoiding the drivers.

Oh yeah, and Kroger (grocery) was packed. A snowflake fell and everyone in a three county radius had to dash to Kroger to stock up on milk and bread. It never fails. Whenever there is snow (or even the forecast of it) Kroger will sell out of bread and milk. I am thinking there are lots of things I could use if i was snowed in for a few days, but bread and milk do not top that list.

So, I will stay home with my chips and dip, and avoid all the dips out there on the road.