Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Waiting for the Apocalypse.. The Blizzard

The news has been ominous for the past few days and everyone spent the last twenty-four hours waiting for the apocalypse (I mean blizzard). The wind was supposed to blow at 20 or 50 or 70 miles per hour. We were supposed to get freezing rain (we actually got a little bit), but also lightning and thunder followed by feet of snow. People stocked up on food and topped off their gas tanks since the talking heads were calling for massive power failures. It was supposed to hit last night, then this morning and they even cancelled schools, then this afternoon. I kept looking out the window to see if it had finally come, but it never did. What was it waiting for? What was the delay? The weather gods were waiting for me to leave the office late, so the snow could start about the time I discovered I had a flat tire. The last flat I changed was in Utah, although that was in the daytime (except that it was sandy ground and Ralph and I had a load of wood in the truck that had to be unloaded so we could get the truck up high enough to change the tire). I’m not sure what caused the flat, but I was on a construction site earlier in the day and it‘s a good chance I picked up something there. Of course, you don’t have to feel too bad for me. I wasn't going to stand out in the snow and change the tire on a truck in driving snow when I could call AAA and let them take of it. Tomorrow, I’ll have the tire repaired or replaced

As for preparing for the blizzard, I brought my winter supply of birdseed. Fifty pounds of peanuts to keep my favorite flickers happy, 50 pounds of sunflowers for the cardinals and bluejays, and another 25 pounds for the little birds. Plenty of food for the birds, if I can keep the squirrels off of the feeders. I’ve now hung all the feeders off the house to keep them away from the deer who can empty a feeder with five pounds of sunflowers in about 10 minutes. Occassionally a squirrel will drop from the roof onto a feeder, they've also been known to miss.

As for the blizzard, we’re getting snow but the winds have been rather tame. The temperature has dropped, but with a crackling fire at my feet, I’m warm. I’ve changed my profile picture, going back to an old one, to please Murf…

22 comments:

  1. I hope the blizzard doesn't wreak too much havoc for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You sound well prepared, Sage! Let's hope it doesn't develop into a serious storm!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope it passes you by, Sage. BTW, we had 70* here today. Don't you want to come home?

    ReplyDelete
  4. You seem to be very organised and well prepared for any eventuality!

    BTW, I too like this profile pic!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Odd...didn't notice a thing over here except a bit of extra trash blowing down the street. We call that snow in the 'hood.

    ReplyDelete
  6. No snow but horrible winds here. For the second time, my kids' basketball goal got knocked over (250 pound base) shattering the backboard. Plus, it is bitterly cold.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dan, it'll be fine, maybe I can ski tomorrow!

    Michael, at least my feather friends can eat! :)

    Kenju, 70 isn't warm enough to swim, so I'll stick around and ski... but I'll be in NC over the New Year

    Gautami, best part of a pic is that you can't smell any stench!

    Walking Guy, the closer to Lake Michigan, the more snow you get. People just a few miles to our east really got hammered.

    Randall, that's some wind, we didn't get the winds they were calling for.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You all love the Snow. And you see the Ice as a challenge to the Shoemakers Arts. But more important, your fine tuned ability to put the correct shoe to the correct conditions, by smell.
    Way up north, Maine, above Kittery, they know things, science things, about ice and snow. They do not so much tip-toe as spike their way.

    BTW

    O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
    It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.
    Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
    'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.
    A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
    For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.
    Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
    O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
    O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

    This is my song for Christmas, the one where connection with those of the mountain and the border regions.
    Where, -'Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!'- is not some kind 'can you do this', but an INSTRUCTION to all Shepherds.

    Bye Vince

    ReplyDelete
  9. The reason the blizzard/apocalypse never came was because it got stuck here in Iowa. We had howling winds yesterday and as my wife drove halfway across the state, she said the cars in the ditches are more numerous than stars. It's been awhile since I've seen a storm of this magnitude.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sage
    I don't know what Murf is thinking, or if that's the photo of you he wanted, I'm just glad it doesn't come with an aora! Twinkle, twinkle, little toes....
    ha.:~)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Funny, I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, for the storm to move East as it SHOULD! :) But alas it just doesn't seem to move quickly enough. It is now 13F, ok that is WARM considering we were -20F just a few days ago. And yeah, after being below freezing for a week, two pipes in the house froze yesterday despite all the precaution. Oh that was painful. Now I can't wait for winter to be over! :o

    ReplyDelete
  12. That picture is so you! Thanks for the update. Now, can I sweet talk you into ditching these ads?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vince, O Holy Night is a wonderful Christmas song, but it's best done (I think) by a solo... it can be haunting with the right voice.

    Ed, it's been snowing harder today and the wind has been blowing, making travel more difficult.

    Eutychus, that's the pic she was asking about in my last post.

    Mother Hen, wow, you've really had it cold. We haven't in the single digits yet, but that's about to change as it was 13 degrees at 1 PM today and it suppose to fall through the afternoon.

    Murf, you like that picture, eh? I may have to play with the ads again--they are kind of obnixious

    ReplyDelete
  14. I need to buy bird seed by the ton, but that's because of the damn squirrels!

    Thank goodness for triple A

    ReplyDelete
  15. I hope it's not too bad, Sage, but if it is... i know you will be as comfortable as your feet look in your new pic! Cross my fingers and toes so that the weather gets better!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Charles, what you need is a good recipe for squirrel stew!

    Leni, I love the snow and will have to see about waxing up the skis and taking them out tomorrow. Of course, with my professional hat on, right now I'm concerned that there are block layers who are unable to work!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You actually do stuff to make Murf happy?!?!?! I thought it was only to annoy her :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love your new profile pic, and your story about the blizzard...made me jealous!!

    The weather is beautiful in Miami, but it doesn't feel like Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I buy blocks of food for the squirrels and they leave the feeders alone until their own food is gone. I need to buy some more food myself.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Our paid weather guessers actually hit their first snow forecast of the year. We got about half an inch. Of course that means they're due to miss at least ten in a row.

    ReplyDelete
  21. TC - He tries to annoy but he doesn't succeed nearly as well as I do with annoying him. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hey Sage
    I like your advertisement but just wondered what do bugs, rain and aligators have in common with Toyota? I'm little dense here.

    ReplyDelete