See Dec. 21 post. (SNOW Revisited!)

I just love the "Diary of a Snow Shoveler". We are getting another 4 or more inches of snow today. The last snow has not even finished melting yet. I think back to my younger days when I loved the snow, but it can be dangerous when sledding or tubing. Let me create the setting here:

When I was really young we had a road on a really big hill right beside our house. A bunch of us kids would always get together when it snowed and slide down the hill on our sleds. Well, my dad had a rack for the back of his truck for hauling cattle in it and he would store it securely at the bottom of the hill over to the side. For some reason, when I slid down the hill one time, my steering on my sled froze and I ended up sliding toward the steel structure and noticed that there was a space that I might be able to duck and miss the cross-beam. I ducked my head and dragged my feet to decrease my velocity but at the last minute heard a sickening thud. Needless to say, I didn't remember getting back to the house, but I did remember my mother's dismay at seeing my bloodied head.

Tubing is another winter sport that I discovered when I was in high school. My cousin and I would go out to the reservoir and slide down the back of the dam on old tire tubes. This sport caught on rapidly with the others and soon we shaped the snow into moguls and ramps built up for added enjoyment and to challenge our many senses. After flying down the hill and zooming off the ramp, holding tightly to the tube, the landing had a bouncy effect that jolted our bodies and limbs likewise. We soon tired of this level and moved on the building a pyramid of people on one tube. All I can say of this idea is, WRONG move. This structure change on the tube made for a faster glide down the hill and also a higher altitude in the launch off the ramp. The effect of the speed and added height of the jump made had its effect on the tube as well, as in the tube launched in a different direction than its passengers. The desired effect was soon forgotten by those of us who had their eyes open and realized the tube was no longer under us! This wasn't too bad for the people on the bottom of the pyramid, but for the top one(usually me), it was a sudden glimpse of life before my very eyes as to how the landing was going to turn out. The odd thing about this was that we would lick our wounds, laugh hysterically, and head back up the hill for more!

Oh, well, back to the here and now. I hear we are suppose to get 4 to 6 more inches of this ****Ing snow tomorrow night!!!

c

Stargate Atlantis - Sunday

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Oh..my..God! The sleet from last weekend has barely started to melt and now this weekend we are getting a blizzard!!! It has already accumulated about 3 to 4 inches and is still snowing strong. I hate going out in this stuff amongst the crazy people who don't know how to drive in snow and ice. My son wants to go to a movie today...I'm thinking, not!! Last week after getting sleet, driving on the roads was like ice skating where your skates drifting into the ruts of the other skaters. So, instead of going out I am sitting here with my laptop, drinking coffee and watching some reality show of Gene Simmons(Kiss), and doing laundry. This show is hilarious, and quite entertaining. Really though, you could hardly call a show about how a celebrity lives, a reality show. Let's follow the life of one of the billions of regular people, that's reality!

I have been lurking on several forums lately. If you don't know, a Lurker is someone who reads other people's comments on forums but doesn't join in with comments of their own. I have come out of lurkdom to make a few comments on David Hewlett's forum. For those who don't know David Hewlett, he is an actor on my favorite show, Stargate Atlantis. He has started his own website to promote his film "A Dog's Breakfast" in which he and his fiance Jane have written and produced. Lately though, it seems as if there are a lot of actor's(especially in Canada) that have started their own websites. Especially those on Science Fiction shows.

Anyway, back to the snow! I think this evening will be spent with more huddling by the heater, surfing the Web, and drinking wine!!!

C

Gotta Love the Midwest!!!!!

I have to think that I was born in the wrong territory, because, as yesterday was a very pleasant 62 degrees, today's high has regressed to a balmy 20 degrees ( Fahrenheit, that is). Along with the frigid temperature there is also the added sleet mixed with snow. And, the best part is the dangerously slippery roads that have been cause to numerous traffic accidents this morning. Although the roads weren't solely to blame as the people driving on them who totally forgot that you should slow down in hazardous driving conditions. So, anyway, I guess we are suppose to have 3 more days of this lovely precipitation and today was the better day of the 3. Since the kids and I are off Monday we will probably spend this weekend enjoying the warmth of our home, assuming the power lines don't ice over. We do, however, have our trusty generator that we purchased two years ago during our last big freeze when we lost electricity for 4 days. I will confess, that was not the best of times for our household.

I can clearly remember the setting: All of us sitting in the living room with our winter jackets, gloves and hats on while listening to the only source of entertainment we had...an old battery powered radio. Let me tell you that I am not someone who enjoys "roughing it" so that afternoon went on an adventure to find a generator. As it turns out, everyone else had that exact same idea! We had to stand in line to put our name on a list for the next available shipment of the priceless equipment. Finally, the neighbor told us that he had a connection for getting us both generators that were going to be coming in a shipment that night. At midnight that night our trusty new generator was all gassed up and ready to go! We were able to plug 2 ceramic heaters, the refrigerator and the t.v. up to it. We had very romantic lighting with various candles placed throughout the house, so reading at night was completely out of the question. The electric lines were repaired on a Friday night just in time for me to catch the latest episode to my favorite show, Stargate Atlantis.

So now I am hoping that this year won't be a repeat of that dreaded time. I did make a trip to Dillons to stock up on some groceries just in case. I am not planning to join the ranks of the "penguins" that feel the need to play kamikaze car derby on these icy roads. So my words to you are...play nice and be safe.

C

Inspiration from youth!

This post will be short and sweet! I wanted to share a poem (simile), that my 13-year old son(pictured) wrote recently for school. His teacher commented on what an excellent simile it was and I have to admit that it is quite insightful for a boy of his age. This is also the child that has been invited to be in the Gifted(high ability) Program next year in high school. Well, here it is:



The Gang

Their cruelty is like the sea,
Deep, mysterious, and scary.
Their kindness is like a candle,
that burns brightly in the dark.
Their intelligence is like a calculator,
that can calculate large amounts of numbers.