Feel Like Complaining

I dread this time of year. It's when the yard turns brown and ugly because we put away all things Summer. The beans have long been yanked after a very productive yield. I have some in the freezer when we're needing a taste of summer this winter. The last of the red tomatoes have been picked and I despise having to buy the hard red orbs the grocery stores call tomatoes until we can plant again. I have made fried green tomatoes 3 times this year but it's really a chore so I'm not sure what I'll do with the rest of the green ones. We had a fair amount of cukes, enough for us I guess, but not as much as in the past. My husband gave away some of the larger zucchini to people he would see at work. One promised him some zucchini bread but he never saw it. Then production almost stopped so we didn't get many for ourselves. Our small patio has to be cleaned out to make room for a grill, yard swing, buckets of bird seed, and the snow blower. Our antique cast iron benc...

With all of the storms that the East side of the country has been having for weeks and the terrible loss of life, it feels strange to have the opposite weather here. I mean, the Pacific Northwest is known for its definite 4 seasons and moderate to heavy snowfalls. But this is our front yard as of last week. We had one cold snap for a week then 3 inches of snow which quickly faded. I've worn my boots ONCE--to shovel ONCE. Since I took this shot we have got some snow but not as much as it could be; and it's almost gone. I must admit I kind of enjoy it, but I am feeling a little guilty that I can't totally share in their pain.

Like much of the U.S. we have been virtually without snow this winter. Sure the ski resorts are hurting, but golf courses are opening. Independent snow plow business are hurting but think how much cities are saving for not having to plow. All this week it's been in the mid 40's with wind and rain. Today we got a break and it felt very springlike. My daughter and I took Nellie for a walk in the park. We like to take her off leash so she can run if she feels inclined. These days it's more like a slow trot. Daughter even took a turn on the swing like she used to when she was younger. We reminisced about how she had to learn how to pump her legs to get higher. Once she got the hang of it, we couldn't get her off of them. As long as it's snowing in the mountains we should be OK this summer. And more than likely we'll get slammed next winter. That's just the nature of Mother Nature; you take what you get. Living in the Pacific Northwest you more than li...

When the cold weather hits, my best friends come out. Put to bed since last Spring, it's now time for them to do their job. Their only job is to keep me warm. They live to service me and I don't freeze at night because of them. We need each other. These may look like disgusting old bags full of.....who knows? But to me, they are beautiful. Scraps of fabric sewed and then filled with rice or beans (I prefer rice), and heated in the microwave, keep me toasty warm. Even when I wasn't a basement dweller, my rice packs were a must in the winter time. I used to only use one at my feet but sometimes my body would be cold, so now I'm a two bagger. One wraps around my feet and I lie the other one next to me. Within 15 minutes I can push them aside, unless I wake up cold during the night and then pull them near again. Kind of sounds like a hubby substitute, doesn't it? Everyone in our family uses them too though; and my daughter will heat hers up as soon as she gets hom...

I refuse to shovel snow anymore. I have hit the "I don't give a crap" wall. Yesterday we had a blizzard that dumped about 4 inches. I know it's not much but we have had ENOUGH. Our area has received 88 inches this winter; the 5th largest record so far. The snow was melting nicely, I could see all of my lawn, the Robins are looking for worms and my dog and I were getting our much needed walks. The shovels have been put away as well as my boots and I'm not getting either out again. So the paperboy and mailman will just have to trudge on through. And my feet will have to freeze, that's just the way it goes. I'm done.

No complaining today! I will give you all a break. We've had two days of wind and rain and all the snow is off the roof and half of it is off the lawn. I can see grass again. It's brown, soggy, and dog-poopy, but it's lawn. I took my chains off today but almost slid down my alley hill backwards when trying to back out of the garage. Newspaper saved the day. I know winter's not over but it's helped a great deal to have a few nice days and some sort of normalcy in my life. Now if the kids could just get back to school......

This morning I woke up at 2:45 am with a start, realizing that my husband wasn't home from work yet. I wasn't too concerned though as this is normal. But then the phone rang. That has got to be the worst sound in the world. He said he was OK but the truck wasn't. He said the clutch went out. I swear to God that's what I heard and it made sense because they had been having trouble with it. So he calls again 2 hours later and said the tow truck had dropped the truck off and he was getting a ride home with his work partner. I get up at 5:30 so I was awake when he came in. He said "I'm just glad I wasn't hurt or the other guy wasn't either". I'm sitting there with this cartoon look on my face and said "What does that have to do with a clutch?" "Clutch?", He said. "What clutch?" "I said I flipped the truck." Again, the cartoon face. "I know I heard clutch, I was awake when you called!" Maybe he was o...

OK, I thought I had heard it all...until today. A snow-plow driver plowing a private business's lot had a confrontation with a man in a pickup. First they exchanged honks and then shoves outside of their trucks. Then the other man fired a gun at the plow driver. He claimed he just shot a warning shot into a snowbank but nevertheless, he will spending tonight in jail. I seriously think this kind of stuff only happens in our city. As far as I know school will be back in tomorrow and I got my meds today after a long walk from the parking lot and a long wait in line. But at least now I won't pop a blood vessel. All is right with the world. Oh, that is until the rains come this week, a flood watch has already been issued. Is it spring yet?

My daughter was looking forward to getting back to school tomorrow after Christmas break. But Nnnnnoooooooo, a big ass storm is coming in tonight so the Sheriff exercised his rights and "suggested" that all schools cancel classes tomorrow. Sidewalks are too deep to be shoveled and 4 foot berms cover up the intersections. That forces the kids to walk in the streets to school. I understand the reasoning because of the storm but things won't be any different Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Sidewalks will not be unearthed until summer. So what are they going to do, cancel school until Spring??? And make-up days just suck. They've already lost two days and now anymore closures will go into their Summer vacation. You might think that Christmas vacation would be filled with fun times with friends. But when driving is treacherous and parents don't want to drive their kids all over town that leads to a lot of boredom. Thankfully my daughter loves to read but even t...

Our city just smashed a snowfall record for the month of December (61.4 inches) which was last set in 1996 (46.2 inches). That's more snow than we usually receive the entire winter season. And I laugh at Bismarck, ND's record of a measly 33.3 inches. We've had roofs collapse on many buildings including a grocery store and church gymnasium. Tonight there is a New Year celebration downtown but several streets will be closed and they had to even cancel a snowboarding event due to......wait for it....... TOO MUCH SNOW! There is too much snow to bring in the equipment to build the ramps. I'm tired of shoveling, there's no where to put it. My girl dog is starting to pee like a boy on the nearest snow bank out the door and I'm praying our patio roof will hold up. We haven't had mail in two days, and garbage won't pick up unless you can get it to the street. We have alley pick up and they want us to drag our cans through 60 inches of snow to the front. We won...

Tensions are running high in our little area of the world. It's Christmas Eve day and the snow continues to fall. Thirty-Seven inches so far with 5-8 inches due tonight and through tomorrow, plus more over the weekend. If we receive only 5 more inches, we will break the now standing record of December snowfalls. I'm sure we will surpass that quickly. Yesterday a 53 year old man was arrested for threatening the life of a snow plow driver. An elderly woman came out of her house yelling at the plow driver for placing a berm in front of her driveway. Then her son came out waving a gun. He went back into the house and called the City department and said that the next plow driver that came down his street would be shot. The call was traced and he was arrested. The gun was loaded and he was charged with felony harassment. An officer summed it up this way; “Remember, when July comes we will all be laughing about those crazy days in December, try not to reflect on those days from your s...

Things are prettier this weekend and makes up a bit for the pain of the snow. But only a little. I couldn't go to work Friday but finally got the chains on my car that afternoon. I decided to try and go around the block, or half of the block. Down our alley hill, to the main road and enter at the other end of the alley. That's where I got stuck and my husband had to take over to get us back in the garage. There I conceded that it's too deep for me to get around. We did get to the store in his car though. It's funny that you can be so grateful just to get to the store! Saturday my daughter and I got outside to take some pictures. Little snowflakes that were falling from the trees looked like crystals in the sun. But I'm not caving on how much I hate it. At times like this you get to know your neighbors better. Those with snow blowers are out in full force helping you dig out your car. We have a small one but it still works pretty good and has been very helpful. We ha...

Winter started late for us this year but I hate it already. For the last week we have had single digit temperatures and now we have more snow than I have seen in a long time. In the last 24 hours we have about as many inches of snow. The city is paralyzed. No school, no city buses, no garbage pick-up, and cars are abandoned all over the city. Yesterday I worked for my mom and the day started out innocent enough. They said snow, but holy crap, this is SNOW! It took me 40 minutes to get home which is usually a 15 minute trip. Then I had to leave again to pick my daughter up from school for a dentist appt. I guess we shouldn't have gone but she had a tooth that needed to be pulled so that took another 40 minutes to get there. My wipers were frozen so I had a tiny space to see out of the windshield if I crouched in my seat. It took us another 40 minutes to get home. Our city has about 4 different areas, downtown, northside, southside and the valley. We live on the northside. Downtown ...