First Minutes into 2018 - Fighting a Wildfire

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan (1915–1977), in The Kansas City Star

In the first minutes of 2018, my husband and I were out fighting a wildfire...

On New Year's Eve, many people shoot off fireworks, but if there ever was a night that was a bad night to shoot fireworks it was this night. Or perhaps I should say if ever there was a good night to start a wildfire, it was this night. For one, we have been having unusually low temperatures for a few weeks with no precipitation, making everything particularly dry. The wind was gusting from the northwest. The temperature was in the 20's that night so all the water hoses were frozen. In other words, it was foolish to do any fireworks at all, but people did and some of those people lived next door to us. (Ironically, our other next door neighbor is a fireman, who was not home at the time.)

It was just after midnight and I had just put on my pajamas. The next thing I see is my husband with his jacket on grabbing one of our fire extinguishers. Then I looked outside to see the yard on the corner across the street with streaks of fire like in the movie "Back to the Future" and a few people, the people who accidentally caused it, running around seemingly not knowing what to do. So, I ran to change back into clothes, put on my heavy hunter's rubber boots, and my warm camo jacket. By the time I got outside, the streaks of fire had disappeared and it was just a total burn with embers even going over the road into our yard. I ran to get the hose from our backyard as I knew it would reach all our front yard and even the other side of the street, but there was water frozen in the hose so it would not work.

At that point, the only method was trying to stomp it out. The homeowner had gotten some shovels in hopes to save his home. I know how fire can move, but I personally had never seen a fire on a mowed lawn have flames shoot up four feet and advance fifteen feet with one gust of wind! And the same  people who caused it were trying to get in front of it too, but I warned them not to do it that way. Crazy just runs rabid with these people!

The only thing that saved the house was that there was a huge island that the homeowner had filled with rock in the front. It caused the fire to split into two sections. I was on the road side and my husband was on the driveway side. I could not even see him at times because of the flames. We all worked at keeping the fire from catching the bushes near the house, but it had advanced to the backyard on my side. Just ten more feet, just one more gust of wind, and the flames would be into leaves, brush, and then up trees. Should a fire get up in height like that, the whole neighborhood to the south and west would have been in jeopardy.

I was praying under my breath and that one more gust of wind did not happen, the fire just began to fizzle out on my side. On the other side the flames were nearing cars in the driveway, but that is when the fire department came and it took them all of 30 seconds to douse it all.

My husband and I did not wait around, but started home to shower and wash our smoky clothes as we coughed out what had gotten into our lungs. The next door neighbor man, who never talks to us, made a point to thank us with the kind of scary sincerity that comes from knowing what could have happened if we had not been there to help. His wife said over and over that there was a newborn baby in that house and I assured her that we would have had enough time to get the baby out safely.

After our showers, we were up for several hours. Adrenalin! Our stories were different because we were in different areas with different people. Our dog saw the first streak and my husband watched as two more shot toward the house across the street. He realized that it probably was a Roman candle that had fallen over, more likely had been blown over. He thought they could get it, but realized before he had a chance to finish that thought that the wind was a big factor. When he arrived with the fire extinguishers, they all thought it would put the fire out, but my husband knew and told them it would only slow it down as they were halogen extinguishers that are for inside fires because they remove oxygen in the air. They really would not do much outside, but when you are desperate it is worth trying.

One of the neighbors with the best yard now has a completely black front yard. It is eerily striking.

We had not seen our next door neighbors for over a week since it happened. I feel for them, I really do. One stupid mistake can cause property and people to be in danger. I am sure they wish they could hide forever right now. I am hoping that none of them became ill because of it.

Our daughter missed it all as she was staying overnight at a friend's house and I was thankful for that because I did not have to worry about her jumping in to help and possibly getting hurt. No one was hurt, thankfully.

My Lord, just thank you that no one was hurt and the damage was minimal.

Wildly Unpredictable Winter Weather

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
-Bill Morgan, Jr.

Having lived in Georgia for the last twenty years, I have learned to accept that there is only one predictable truth about winters in Georgia:

Winters in Georgia are entirely and quite wildly unpredictable!

 

Friday  
Having said that over and over again, even people who have lived here all their lives still do not seem to understand and accept the simplicity of this inerrant truth. This is why I always expect any winter front to be far worse than any of the predictions.

We were told up to three days ago that it might snow and that we might see accumulation of up to an inch on our decks and in the grass, a dusting perhaps. (We were also told that about a week ago and all we got was some rain.)

Two days ago that changed to possibly four inches of snow. The state had all bridges and overpasses prepared ahead of time. Georgia officials stepped up our winter weather preparedness ever since the terrible fiasco in January 2014: When it Snows in Georgia.

In the dark before the dawning day, it started with a winter mix of sleet and rain. I know because my Mishka woke me far too early for his morning outing and we were out in it. There already was some slippery slush on the steps but nothing that was not easily displaced by my low tread garden boots. (Do not let that sweet innocent look fool you. He is a just wanted to jump back into the snow after we just got him out of it.)

A friend in Arizona, who originally lived in Pennsylvania and may be missing those snowy winters, texted me to ask if we were snowed in yet. I texted back that here it is more about being "iced" in, because just few inches of accumulated snow ends up causing serious icy conditions, but I forgot that one should never say never in Georgia about winter storms.

The wintry mix changed to huge fluffy clumps of snow and by the end of the morning we had that four inches, but it was still snowing. The schools decided to end the day before noon.

The temperature was above freezing but the large fluffy flakes outpaced the melting of the fallen come-befores and my little world was blanketed in a wondrous white. We had a power outage for about two hours and then flickering in the power for about another 24 hours. Trees bowed under the unfamiliar weight and many lost branches, split, and fell over exposing the roots even though there was no wind.

The picture above is pointed in the same direction as the one below. You can see that our neighbor's tree split off a large branch. Those types of trees are notorious for splitting even with just heavy rains or a little wind when they are 20 years old. We just cut ours down a few weeks ago. (Yeah, I really have been doing other things when I have not been blogging.)

Since it was just snow and not ice, it probably would have been better if we had some wind that would have blown the snow off of the trees. So if you can imagine seeing six inches height of wet snow catching more flakes on the thinnest of branches, you can understand how amazingly different everything appeared to us. Well, not entirely because...it did not stop snowing at six inches. I measured it at about nine inches at dinner time and it apparently has continued to snow all night.

Saturday
Although my favored husband did make it home the night before, having to make a couple of detours around jack-knifed semi-trucks and accidents and working around vehicles parked on the side or the road or half in the ditch, Mishka decided to let him sleep and put his sweet wet nose in my face to say that I was the lucky pick again for his early morning outing. Mishka has discovered that he loves, loves, loves snow!

 

I measured and the snow was at twelve inches! TWELVE! (That's 30 centimeters for my metric friends.)

The temperature was just at freezing and it was predicted to dip down a bit and then will be rising enough for a slow melt. The sun was supposed to be hidden behind clouds today, but prediction has changed so today the roads will clear mostly and tonight everything will freeze again and that makes for patches of black ice, but for the most part all main roads will be mobile again—getting to them from the side roads is the problem.

This is the most snow we have ever seen here at one time, although I read that in 1993, before we moved here, a blizzard dumped 30 inches.

Why do I expect the unpredictability? If we had a strong relentless northwestern storm come blustering through like that 1993 blizzard, that would be more predictable, but when we have a weakening or stalling northwestern cold front that is just strong enough to slipstream the warm moist air up from the Gulf of Mexico in front of it making the northwest front turn into a southwest draw...well, it is not easy to predict if the moist warmer air will produce rain or the cold will prevail making snow or sleet. Amounts of any one of these depend on how slowly the storm moves east with one part trying to go southeast and the other pulling up toward the northeast making our area a point of turmoil.

Sunday Morning
As expected, after teetering around the magical temperature that turns water into ice, the weather decided to take a plunge into temperatures in the 20s at night. Then allowed some of the snow to melt in with temperatures in the 40s on Saturday to plunge again into the low 20's, so now what areas of the roads that did not dry out during the melting of the day are icy...at least until around noontime. We might not make it to church services, because our street and the roads to the main ones are icy but we will be able to go shopping and pick up my new bunnies around 3:00 since the sun will be out and temperatures are to be in the 40s again.

Typically, such crazy weather conditions are more likely to happen in January, but...Georgia!

I love its wild unpredictable winters.

My Lord, may we always be in surprised by Your creative ways that we cannot predict, even though we keep attempting to do so.

January in Georgia

Nature looks dead in winter because her life is gathered into her heart. She withers the plant down to the root that she may grow it up again fairer and stronger. She calls her family together within her inmost home to prepare them for being scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. ~Hugh Macmillan, "Rejuvenescence," The Ministry of Nature, 1871

Weather is always crazy everywhere. I know it is a conversation starter when meeting strangers, but I rarely use it. However, I have lived some years in three different states and by far winters in Georgia are the most surprising and wildly unpredictable.

Friday January 6th, we were preparing for a winter storm, which in my area was mostly sleet so we were iced in for the entire weekend. Although some of the ice melted on the main roads because of the sunshine on Saturday, temperatures remained mostly in the 20's and our driveway is on the north side of the house...well, whatever somewhat melted refroze and made it even slicker the next morning. Sunday we were promised the temperature would go above freezing. Did not happen, of course! So finally on Tuesday the temperatures were in the 50's and now for the last two days, it has been nearly 70° F, just a week later.

Taking our half-grown puppy out was quite challenging. Finding a safe path to the rabbits was as well. The cats both took one step onto the icy driveway decided that staying cooped up in the warmer garage was not such a bad idea after all. Midnight did not even scratch at the basement door as she usually does when she wants out or just attention.

A few things are bringing smiles to my face:

The full bright moon on a cloudless night and Venus giving her all against the black of the southwestern sky just after sunset.

I thought I had lost these sweet greens in the drought, but my little cyclamen plants announced their survival peeking out of the leaves even after being iced.

The the best one was my husband is home for the weekend and we are having a date night, because our daughter is staying over night with a friend. We are talking about Sushi for dinner and just being together alone for the first time in months.

My Lord, thank you for taking care of us every day and in every way through all kinds of hardships.

The Returning of Longer Days

You can only come to the morning through the shadows.
~J.R.R. Tolkien

I love autumn, except for one thing: shorter days. That is, less daylight in the 24 hours that we call a day. I probably did not mind the shorter days as a child so much but since becoming an adult, I have notice I dislike the short days more with each year. I want to go to bed a 8:00 at night, but should I do that I most likely will be awake at 3:00 in the morning. When I was in high school I remember how much I loved waking up in the dark of the morning, before everyone else, and quietly preparing for my day, planning and praying.

Life seemed so complicated then, but it is far more complicated now.

My daughter wildly swings from being the early morning girl to being the late morning girl. The duration of each can be weeks to just a few days. She sets her alarm early and wakes up her father (when he is home) and me before she turns it off and goes back to sleep until I get her up. On her early mornings, she would get up to exercise, but when she is not so inclined as she has not been for a few weeks now, we still are waken for no real reason. However, after struggling with her inability to fall asleep or stay asleep for over a year, I am thankful that she has a healthier sleep pattern now. We tried several supplements, homeopathic remedies, and a no-screens policy one hour before bedtime to help her get back to the habit of falling asleep and staying asleep more easily. She is well versed on how the body produces melatonin when it is dark to use that to her advantage.

One thing I do like that seems to be in concert with longer nights, besides higher production of melatonin, are the winter sunsets. This was taken with my new camera from my back deck. 

Still, as the winter solstice approaches, I begin to dread it more each year. Even though I know that mere seconds are taken away each day the closer it gets, I feel as if I will never get over its daunting hill because going back down it is just as painstakingly slow. Because of this, January is my least favorite month although I have tried not to label it for years because it was not always so.

When I lived in Ohio, January was the month it snowed the most and I love snow. Countless upon countless of tiny crystals can be so dazzling in the moonlight! When the trees are bare naked and covered in snow, I think of how God grace beautifies us as we stand exposed before Him.

When I lived in Florida, January was the month it was cooler without much blooming but mostly still green. Only a few trees lost their leaves and some only for about two weeks. To the northerners, it was warm enough to get a tan on the beach, but those of us used to warmer climates year around, it was just a short span of time to wear a few sweaters we kept on hand. I cannot say that I liked January there that much but, because it was warmer, I guess I did not mind it so much other than missing the Ohio winters with which I had grown up.

January in Georgia, however, is a different story. It is a wild weather month. It can be cool like Florida one day due to southern breezes and overpowered by a northeastern and covered with snow and/or ice the next. It is unpredictable, and weather always is, but there is something a bit different about this area when it comes to winter. That of itself is not why I dislike January here. It is the combination, lack of snow but still too cold to do much in very short daylight hours.

Yet, there is this certainty with January: the days are lengthening. The days are no longer getting  shorter (pun intended); they are getting longer. From the the first of January, it goes from just less than 10 hours from sunrise to sunset to 10½ and it continues to increase at a faster pace up to the spring equinox. At that point the days still lengthens but the pace slows.

Funny thing is that I disliked spring when I was younger. I liked seeing the blooms but the mud would get to me. The combination of melting snow and hard rains would just get me down. Having lived near farming communities with livestock and fields to be planted most of my childhood and with my aunt and her small horse ranch as a teenager, I can honestly say that I never liked muddy springs and almost all of them were. However, in Georgia, we see bright yellow daffodils often in the first weeks of February and somehow that heralds in spring for me. I just cannot wait to work in the gardens this year, now that our house has been resided and there will be no more workers trampling my plants. I lost so many last year, but this year I will work on them without that concern looming over me.

I cannot wait for those longer days!

My Lord, thank you for the seasons, the ones I love and the ones that I do not. Thank you for Your Light that shines on us all the time. Help me to see it more when I in the long periods of darkness.

Another Winter Storm with Ice and More

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.
 ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As we recovered from the last winter storm fiasco with our governor making future promises and appointing someone to manage storm threats, I came down with a flu. I rarely get sick with a cold/flu, but I definitely was feeling horrible on Tuesday, two weeks ago. I tend to have low days now and then, but an all out flu is something I rarely get. After I set aside denial, I called my husband asking him if he could take the Princess to her last piano lesson the following day as it was before the judging on that following Saturday.

As things turned out, I ended up taking her after all...mostly because of my stubbornness and my unforgiving mood about how it seemed to inconvenience others. As I said, I rarely get really sick, so when I am and my husband is working from home and our daughter has a deadline, I have this expectation that my family will take into consideration that I am SICK, so all the stuff that Mama usually does is going to have to be done by others. Actually, my husband had worked it out to take her, but by that time I was too angry to stay at home in bed as I should have done.

I did take the Princess to her school and piano lesson, but I did not have the energy to go grocery shopping and I thought that it would be fine since I would be coming into town for the piano judging on Saturday and could shop then. When I dropped the child off at her piano lesson, her teacher told us that the judging was rescheduled to a month later because the church she rented for it was having renovations done. Weeks ago, she had been concerned about how unprepared nearly all her students were for the judging, even the Princess who had just pulled it together the previous week, but that was the only available slot for the church. Now she had the extra four weeks she felt nearly everyone needed, except for the Princess and one other girl, and more students could participate because it would not be conflicting with school sports. The church had called to inform her of the problem and offered her another day that was not available previously just one hour before we arrived. I was happy that the Lord had worked it out for her, but all I could think of was I wished we all had known before I had left that morning for I would not have tried making the trip at all.

When we got home, I prepared for bed and stayed there for two days.

Since there was no judging, I did not go grocery shopping on Saturday. We are well stocked with a full pantry and two freezers, but my husband was able to get fresh organic greens, eggs, and fruits locally.

I recovered and made it to church on Sunday, where everyone was abuzz with the news that another winter storm was coming on Tuesday night (last week), but this one would likely be an ice storm starting with rain that freezes. This would mean downed trees and power outages. The schools did not take any chances this time; they were closed on Tuesday. For us, science class and piano was cancelled again. The governor declared a state of emergency before there was one. The schools here were closed the rest of the week, but power outages did not affect us, mostly because there little wind here with the storm, thankfully.

By Monday, I realized I was having my own state of emergency: an infected gland in tender place. I had this once before about thirty years ago when I had no health insurance, so I dealt with it then the old fashion home remedy way with hot sitz baths or compresses. I had to make a decision about seeing a doctor on Tuesday because it would be highly unlikely it would be possible after the ice storm hit. My husband was home and had made as many preparations for the storm as he could, so I chose to home treat, but this infection grew to be more stubborn and worse than the first one. I was feverish for most of the week and too sore to sit and praying not to have to have it lanced. Thursday night my fever broke and Friday morning it finally began draining.

Sitting upright on a chair is not comfortable yet, but my husband is leaving and I have errands to do tomorrow, as usual. During most of my illnesses the Princess had time off from lessons and is as reluctant to get back to our regular schedule as I am to sit in a chair, but at least the latter will pass.

~ My Lord, thank you for hearing my prayer for healing. May all go well tomorrow with errands, science and piano. And, thank you for reminding me how precious a thing good health is and let me not waste it. ~

When it Snows in Georgia

Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough. ~Earl Wilson

We did not go out for errands on Wednesday this week, but we had gotten in an extra piano lesson on Monday and Living Science cancelled classes for Tuesday and Wednesday due to the extreme cold and possibility of a winter storm. Good thing too, because of what happened....

First, I have to say that those of us who are originally from the northern states are always amazed at the level of unpreparedness that seems inevitable even when Georgians know a snow/ice storm is coming, but what began Tuesday morning this week went far beyond the worst case scenarios I could have imagined. It really could not have been much worse if there had been an unscheduled bomb drill in the middle of Atlanta that the general public mistook for the real thing. The magnitude of what three little inches of fluffy, white stuff and below freezing temperatures can do to this area is unimaginable unless you experience it for yourself.

It all started with the weather models showing that a storm would sweep across Georgia probably blanketing it with snow and possibly freezing rain somewhere...the best guess was south of Atlanta, because of the jet stream coming up from the south bringing moist air up to the higher atmosphere into the strong winter front moving in from the northwest is the toughest call for meteorologists in pinpointing the dump zone. Even the computer models went back and forth between nearly all of Georgia getting it to most of it hitting south of Atlanta, practically until it was upon us. Having lived in Georgia for well over a decade, I can say unpredictability really should be no surprise to anyone who has lived here even longer. It is just best to expect the worst and be thankful when you are wrong when it comes to winter storms here.

Folks, let me write this again so there is no misunderstanding: We all knew for a fact that a completely unpredictable major winter storm was approaching with temperatures in the twenties and lower from the northwest into Georgia. The only uncertainty about it was when, where, and how much snow and/or ice.

So, here is the Mayor of Atlanta and the Governor of Georgia knowing a major winter storm is coming in for sure, like everyone else, knowing it is unpredictable, like everyone else, but instead of erring on the side of caution in fear of being criticized for overreacting, they keep all the government offices open so employees are at work and all children are in school. The Governor honestly stated in a speech that he felt his biggest failure was in not staggering the time government employees could be released from work...yeah, like that would have made all the difference. Now the school boards are independent and can close schools as they see fit, but since all the rest of the government facilities were up and running....

The morning starts out sunny and bright, but well below freezing. Then snow comes in with the clouds, light at first, but within an hour it is obvious that it was accumulating and the roads began to get icy. Our county school board sent out an alert at 10:30 AM that they had decided to release the students early. The elementary students would be leaving the school at 12:30 PM, with the middle schools and high schools at other times (like staggering) but it was already too late at 10:30 AM when the notice was sent. Many buses could not even get to the schools. Many children here and all over the Metro Atlanta area stayed over night in their schools, and those were the luckier ones, for some were stuck on school buses that could not finish routes because of the ice. Most of Atlanta had about three inches of snow, I think we had more like four in our area, but it was hard to tell as it was dry and blowing off roofs and trees.

The governor stated that what caused most of the traffic problem was that businesses sent people home all at the same time, rather than staggering I suppose, so salt trucks could not treat the roads because of all the traffic, as if Atlanta never has much traffic except during rush hours...but again that was already too late as they should have began treating when the snow started falling.  When I thought about it, why wouldn't businesses send home their workers when their children were being sent home by the schools...?

My husband was working only 45 minutes from home, on the average day, even though I did not want him to go out at all because I just knew this was going to be a bad one. The customer account he was at closed so he had to leave around 1:30 in the afternoon. He had already called around to hotels, but they were full. He made sure he had plenty of gas and headed home. He tried different ways because I-20 was closed, so he was looking for a road not yet closed to get north of I-20 and every time he was met with a road that was closed. The radio stations were no help at all: just people telling their own stories about being stuck in stopped traffic and cars being abandoned because of an accident, jack-knifed semis blocking the road, running out of gas, lack of traction, or the driver just gave up all along major highways and roads, even smack in the middle of lanes, because they could not move them off.

At least my husband and I could talk to each other because he had enough gas and his cell phone charger with him, some people had dead cell phone batteries and could no longer talk to anyone. At 10:30 PM, an hour and a half after we last talked, I asked how far he had traveled in that time: two tenths of a mile. There was not much I could do about it so I went to bed, knowing my husband can take care of himself and praying he would arrive soon. Twelve hours after he started, at 1:30 AM, my husband finally made it home. We were fortunate: in our church, a few husbands working in the city have not been home for two nights, either staying at work or hotels near work.

Would you believe that work asked my husband to fly to Boston that day, while he was stuck in his van all those hours? He simply told them that Delta had cancelled all flights, which was true, and all the highways and roads around the airport, we later found out, were the worst of the worst all the next day as well, for we did not have enough sunshine and the temperatures were still in the 20's.

As horrible as Tuesday was, Wednesday was not much better. It took until afternoon before people could get out at all. While we were all advised to stay home, vehicles were still obstructing driving lanes, so people wanted to get their cars, if they could, because the "magic hour" was ending around 5:00 PM, when the sun would start going down and everything that had somewhat thawed in the sunlight would refreeze. Actually, it never got above freezing as we were still in the 20's all that day, but there were some patches of the roads with good amounts of sunshine that melted some of the ice. Power outages were not the big problem as they were with the ice storm in 2011, because it was a dry snow rather than a heavy wet snow or freezing rain which causes pine trees to snap from the added weight and down power lines.

Today (Thursday), the schools were still closed and some businesses were opening with later hours.  This afternoon the temperature has reached above freezing for a few hours and the snow is melting fastest in the sunlight and most of the ice has melted on well traveled roads, but there is still ice in the road in front of our house and there could still be patches of black ice again tonight. Tomorrow and thereafter, the highs are to be in the fifties and rain is in the forecast, so in a day or two more, this debacle will wiped from the natural earth as if it did not even happen, but with over 900 reported accidents in the area and who knows how many yet to be reported, people will still have some cleaning up to do for many coming days.

My Lord, please help the people of Georgia who were affected so badly by this storm. Thank you to getting my husband home to his loving family, warm food, and bed.

Days of Colds, Snow, and Ice

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. ~Kin Hubbard

This is a picture of the Princess with her father at her very first snow!

Most of you know I am not one to "break the ice" with weather reports. I mean, I have a friend who lives in Minnesota and she rarely talks about the snow, because it is so common there; it is just a part of life for most months of the year—now if it did not snow most of the winter there that would be something worth mentioning. I have friend in Arizona and she does not begin conversations with how warm and dry it is there because that is just typical—but if they had days and days of heavy rains that would not be. I have friend in a subtropical area of Australia, who is in her summer as we are in our winter. Obviously, their weather is going to differ vastly from the weather in Georgia more times than not. However, there are times when the weather is doing something extraordinary right here and even I will talk about it.

Seeing six inches of snow is rare in my part of the country, but far more rare is for the temperatures to stay low enough for several consecutive days so it does not melt away...well, actually it is melting a tiny bit each day, just enough to refreeze to a slick ice. Monday it was a wet snow and schools closed so children were out sledding on the hill in front of our house that day.

Schools are still out and most likely will be the rest of the week, since temperatures will not go above the freezing mark until Friday. Now the snow is mostly crusted ice and is not much fun. Still, imagine this beckoning white novelty at the time your child is sick with a fever and persistent cough.

The Princess looked out of her window watching the other children playing. Friends came to the door to ask to play with her. The first two days her fever was high enough to make her want to lie down and nap often, but by Sunday her temperature lowered to a low grade fever, which continued until Monday evening. Yesterday, she was allowed out of bed but no running around as she was still coughing and I am still working on my unique battle with this bug.

As for me, I still have a sore throat and no appetite. I had no fever, but have had periodic dizziness, mostly because my ears are full of fluid, I think. In some ways, I feel better and other ways worse.

My husband still has some lingering symptoms, but they diminish more every day. I am thankful for the weather as his flights were rescheduled each day so that eventually the trip would have to be pushed back to next week. It gives him time to fully recuperate even though he is caring for the Princess and me more now.

~ My Lord, help us to recuperate fully and soon. ~

Winter Solstice

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet

The winter solstice, which was yesterday, is one of my favorite days of the year. On the same day was a total lunar eclipse at around 3:00 AM and, as much as I enjoy watching a lunar eclipse, I did not get up for this one. However, this was a rather special event because it happens so rarely. The last time was 372 years ago on Dec. 21, 1638. The next time will be in just 84 more years on Dec. 21, 2094. I probably will not be seeing that one either!

The winter solstice is a day to which I look forward simply because it is the shortest day of the year, which means each day forward will increase in daylight hours. Today is less than a second longer than yesterday, but by January 1st we will have gained two whole minutes. Yes, it starts off slowly, adding only a few seconds a day at first, but it increases momentum until the spring equinox. Winter will go on for months yet and it has plenty of dark and dreary days, but each day there is just a bit more sunlight than the day before. The earth is beginning to tilt in the opposite direction, stealing more daylight from the southern hemisphere and giving it to the northern half. It is a amazing thing when you think about it!

I don't know why exactly, but every year just knowing the days are now getting longer after the winter solace lifts my spirits!

~ My Lord, thank you for the longer days coming and the warmth following. ~

Let It Snow, Snow, Snow!

We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. ~Sir Walter Scott

Settling back in on the home front, we had an interesting change in the weather.



Before we left home to pick my husband up on Friday, the Princess had made snowmen on our back deck.



It would continue snowing most of the night. The day before, we were warned that computer models were not matching up so we could get any thing from one to six inches. It looked as though we actually got about four.

On Saturday morning, I was reminded how beautiful winters were in my home state of Ohio and I drank it in. I don't think the pictures truly illustrate the splendor just outside our windows.






Here, though, the real problem is that at night when the temperatures would go way below freezing, causing ice on the roads, but thankfully the days have been warm enough to clear off the roads. As I write this, two days later, it all is almost gone...and even the snowmen are nearly forgotten lumps.

Still, she will remember....

~ Thank you, my Lord, for the beauty of the seasons and for this sweet glimpse at a winter wonderland in Georgia. ~

February in Florida

February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer. ~Shirley Jackson

I would add to the quote above: unless you go to Florida.

You may be wondering why I have not posted lately. We went to Florida to visit and help my husband's parents. Dad is legally responsible for his 99-year-old aunt, who is currently in a nursing home. It has been decided that her home needs to be sold and we had to get it cleaned out so it would be ready to place on the market. Her place is about a two-hour drive for them, too long for either of my husband's parents to drive nowadays. The plan was to clean everything out in just one day, which we did, but we had no time left over to visit the aunt at the nursing home. So, we made plans to go back days later on Saturday. Even though her memory is not good, she seemed to recognize my husband, remarking on his beard. She is such a sweet lady, truly one of social graces with a loving heart for Christ.

I brought home a few things, really just a few, but I have yet to unpack them, so they are waiting for me, cluttering the art/craft room I just cleared out a few weeks ago. I have not had the energy to go through them yet. My husband's parents are also trying to get us to take things we would like from their home also, for which we really have no room at this time.

Florida's weather ranged from cool to nearly too warm for what we brought to wear, but the humidity is the real difference. I had forgotten what it was like, but now I remember why my hair took all day to dry naturally when we lived there!

We studied this Red Shouldered Hawk sitting on a wire just across the street from the house. I saw a hawk there often when I stayed there the summer before last helping out while my husband's mother was in the hospital and nursing home, but I never got a really good photograph of that one. Perhaps it is the same hawk. I caught it just as it turned to consider me.

We arrived back home on Tuesday evening and unpacked only the necessities, food and bathroom things, as we would be getting up early the next morning to drive to the airport. My husband had to be in Chicago for work the rest of the week. I took that Wednesday off myself, but unpacked the clothes. Thursday was for errands and Friday back to lessons and the airport.

~ My Lord, please watch over our family in Florida and thank you for providing us the opportunity to help them. ~

Snow Days!

Only nature has a right to grieve perpetually, for she only is innocent. Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever. The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God, and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not. ~Henry David Thoreau

I felt the moisture in the air as my daughter and I stepped out through the automatic doors of our favorite health food store. I felt a slight sensation on my hand, cool and wet, just as we were transferring our groceries from the cart to Pegasus, our trusty white mini-van with high mileage and sorely in need of a wash. The temperature was just at freezing and the wind biting. It could have been a tiny wet flake, but all evidence was gone in an instant. Was it finally beginning?

For nearly a week, the weathermen had been broadcasting the possibility of snow. Snow in Georgia. This is not an insignificant event. Of course, children quiver with excitement over the thought of this frozen white stuff for the opportunity to play in it and the possibility of school closings. However, in the Georgia, the real problem is not the snow itself, but ice. For the last few days, temperatures had been dipping into the teens at night and would stay below freezing for the next few days. The wind chill factor would also be around zero degrees so it was unlikely that the ice would melt away the next day.

I had been considering canceling our regularly scheduled piano lesson, but decided to just see how the day went. We had left home early and were done with shopping. I had more time than I needed to stop at the post office just five minutes later. No doubt about it now. It was a very fine, yet wet, snow besprinkling the windshield.

As we traveled north, the snow fall became heavier and the snowflakes a bit larger. Outside of Trudy's home studio, the snow was already accumulating on the ground. The Princess expounded on how this was Rachel Rebecca's first snow. (She picked the name Rachel Rebecca for her newest doll because it means "a bound ewe." In other words, she would be like a little lamb following her everywhere and so far she has lived up to the name well.)

On the drive home, the snow continued as the temperatures began dropping, lighter in some areas and heavier in others, barely coating the ground yet melting on the roads. Traffic was lighter than usual and the drive home went well even as we listened to school closings for the next day. We were soon home and safe.

Today, I awoke to find the lawns looked more dusted with white. The Princess would sled down our slick driveway all giggles.

We watched vehicles struggle up and down the slippery hills in our neighborhood. My husband would not be going anywhere for work today, but we had to return a rented car. The main roads still had icy spots, but we did fine. On the way home we stopped Steak 'n Shake for their Happy Hour, which means we had yummy milk shakes for half price. While we sipped our shared White Chocolate and my husband quickly devoured his Peppermint Chocolate Chip, the Princess would come up for air long enough to read a library loan, Hatching Magic, aloud to us.

Now we are home about to prepare dinner with a flickering light in our fireplace radiating warmth. The ice will continue to be a problem for a few more days and, unfortunately, this cold front is causing problems with produce in Florida also.

~ My Lord, thank you for the changes in nature that remind us how much our lives are influenced by them, how little control we have, how well we can adapt, and make the best with what we have. ~

4-H at Christmas

Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side. ~Yiddish Proverb

While my aunt and uncle were still with us, the Princess had a 4-H meeting as they always do the first Tuesday of the month. Since my husband had taken the week for vacation, he took the Princess this time; it was his first meeting although he has been to other events. For this one she was to bring a present that we chose off the Angel Tree to give to a chosen family: We had picked a toy for a two year old boy this year. The meeting was to be short, but only because they were to sing carols at a nursing home and then it was to Chick-fil-A for a free sandwich for the members and socializing.

A side note: I am not fond of fast food chain restaurants, but I have a soft spot for Chick-fil-A. They started here in Georgia. Not only are their advertisements with black and white cattle misspelling signs to get you to "eat mor chikin" adorable (although in reality that breed of cattle is used for milk, not meat) and their food is tasty, but the founder was decidedly Christian and still closes on Sunday and important holidays even to this day. They also train their employees to be very polite and help you with your tray, even when you really don't need it! These restaurants are always busy in this area...always!

Of course, I try not to pass up the opportunity to face paint when the Princess is involved in any festivities!


The following Saturday was the Christmas Parade. The adult 4-H leader almost canceled because it was so cold. The year before, our first, was very cold also, but this year was even worse.


I have to say that this is not the best parade in which to be with horses. You see, it has been customary that every entry throws candy to the children along the way and, of course, children run out from behind the tape and off the curbs to get the candy that lands in the street. The path for the parade narrows more and more as this happens. Our group is the first after Santa's sleigh, which is at the very end of the parade and, yes, he also throws candy too. By the time we begin walking the corridor, the lines are nearly nonexistent. Most people see Santa as the end of the parade. In fact, we were about half way in the parade area when people just started joining in and three men walked within a foot behind the miniatures—such are the actions of the foolish!

Just before we joined the parade, two members had been kicked. The first was because the side street, the one all the horse groups come up to join the parade, was not blocked off as it was supposed to be and cars were going down one lane. The problem occurred when two cars going the opposite direction approached each other in the one lane we were not occupying. A full-sized horse did not like that at all and kicked a girl walking behind him. She was not hurt badly as it caught her thigh and she was a good distance away—just a few more inches out and she would have been missed.

The second incident involved a miniature horse, the one my husband had been holding in the picture, actually. A man with a large bunch of white balloons approached our group and the girl holding the horse at the time had given him too much of the lead. The mini turned on her just enough to get a kick and he started to get a second, but other people grabbed them in time. This girl's lower leg was terribly swollen within just a few minutes. The kick had hit her just at the top of her knee, but the following week she was out at the stables and seemed to be healing fine—the blessing of prayers and youth!

I guess it is just inevitable that when children with horses are waiting for nearly two hours for the parade in freezing cold that they are not as on guard as they should be and none of these horses are parade trained. My aunt was in the mounted women's police and those horses were well-trained for parades, even to the point they had firecrackers set off under them without rearing or kicking, but you just never know what is going to spook a horse and parades are full of those unknowns. I was thankful that my daughter was in a safer place up on the float.

Then there was the skate. The 4-H Club rents the skating rink for the night, the next Thursday night! Those of you who know my schedule know how my Thursdays go. Well, add that I had to drop off my husband at the demo center-corporate offices and then pick him up after work, put away groceries, and fly out the door to get the rink on top of that.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love to roller skate and I have been doing it since I could walk, but I took a bad fall on one knee about four years ago when skating that took its time healing and I have no problems with it at all now, so at this same skate last year, I skated and fell again. Although this time it was a rolling fall and I was not hurt at all—prayer does work. I decided I would do something else to occupy myself so I was not tempted to get out on the rink this time. I face painted all the members who wanted it for free. We forgot our camera this time so I have no pictures of this event at all but it was fun.

~ My Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers so that the girls healed quickly and that no one else was hurt during the parade. ~

Christmas Tree Shopping

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ~ Roy L. Smith

I really don't know how we manage to do this every year, but we seem to have this uncanny ability to pick the very coldest day after Thanksgiving to go shopping for a Christmas tree. This year was no exception and was one of the coldest.

We have gotten a tree most years from a place on a corner lot. They are nice people and the Princess loves to warm by the fire while sipping their free hot spiced cider, but they don't have the selection they once did. They used to carry at least three or more different species, one being our absolute favorite: the Noble Fir. My husband eyed this Frazer Fir, but had heard of Nobles being available at a well-known nursery just a few miles further.

We got our very first Noble when we lived in Florida and have been hooked on them every since. Grown in the Northwestern United States, Nobles have a beautiful, almost spruce like appearance, with soft blue-green needles on strong branches that are spaced well, almost as if in layers giving a lacy appearance, perfect for heavy and larger ornaments as well as the most delicate being displayed without much trimming needed. Nobles hold onto their needles well, in fact, they rarely shed their needles at all, and have a lighter, somewhat citrus scent. They also are slow growing and have very thick trunks, that peek through the spaces between the branches. Honestly, they just have the perfect traditional Christmas tree appearance. All of which makes them a bit higher priced than the more common Frazer Firs and Douglas Firs.

A few years ago Nobles were scarce. Retailers that had any were much higher in price than they ever had been and we were told that we would probably not see any Nobles for at least five years. Apparently, a drought had affected them profoundly. Then the people, from whom we usually bought our trees, just did not offer them at all anymore and we had been getting Frazer Firs from them for some years. It saddened us not to buy from them this year, particularly the Princess since we have been customers ever since she was born and we are rather a loyal bunch, but this year we decided we would prefer a Noble, if we could find one.

And, found one we did. The selection was limited, but we happened upon a beauty reasonably price. It was much bushier than they usually are and we have to do far more trimming than we have even done on any of the ones we have had in the past, but seeing glimpses of the trunk through the branches made it worthwhile. The base of the trunk just fit our stand. All is well. We brought it in that evening, which is odd for us, but with my aunt and uncle coming, we wanted the tree set up should we decide to begin decorating it before or while they are here. We have a tradition of enjoying the tree in its natural state for about one day and then with lights only for up to a week before we put on the ornaments.

Before we left on our tree hunt, we went out for dinner at Steak and Shake (with coupons in hand). We shared one each of their limited-time specialty shakes: White Chocolate and Peppermint Chocolate Chip. Of course, the Princess loves putting together the cardboard cars with all those fancy stickers. Nothing like a cold milkshake to get you really chilled on the inside before going out in the cold! What were we thinking?

~ Thank you, my Lord, for reminding me that every penny spent on Christmas frivolity is still income to people who count on it at this time of year and cannot possibly be measured when compared to the delight it brings to even just one child. ~