Monday, January 6, 2014

Cold Like Two Ducks

Mom used to say that.  I assume that her mom or maybe Grandpa Gerst used to say it too.  I don't know what it means.  I tried to look it up on the Internet but all I found was duck raising sites.  Ah well, at any rate like just about every place in the United States it's damned cold today.  See how half of the birdbath's frozen even with the heater on?  Right now it's something like -11 with -35 wind chills and it's supposed to get colder and windier as the day wears on.  Schools are closed all over the state (not the dive shop though) and all of the TV people keep bleating about frostbite and bundle up and stay in if you can.  Well, duh.  You'd better bet I'll be using the remote start on my car before time to drive away.  I might even go out and start her with the key because the remote start only runs for 5 minutes and that might not be long enough to thaw out Beverly's fluids.  Challenging weather.

I took down the Christmas tree yesterday, the palm frond reindeer and the Ebenezer "Bah Humbug" plaque too, and I tossed the $1-on-Christmas Eve pine wreath out back for the squirrels to play with.  I realized that the only part of the Christmas decorations I'm going to miss is the jingle bell front door wreath.  I bought it last year (I think) on clearance at Joann's and I like the friendly little jingle when I open or close the door.  Ah well, I like silence too or the grind of the threshold frost when I open the door.  See, there's evidently the teeniest gap between the threshold and the door that lets in a bit of chilly air and frost forms; I should probably figure out how to deal with that.  Maybe a draft blocking snake?  I could get a rag rug from downstairs to roll up there.  Can you buy new thresholds?  Probably, but I'd also probably have to have the door hanging open to make the swap and that just ain't going to happen.  I'll put that on the "do in Spring" list.

Just as sunset (see the pretty sky?) I went over to give the chickens the bag of veggie peels and fruit tops I had in the fridge yesterday during the football game (when it's possible to drive across town without encountering hordes of rabid Packer people) and stopped in a minute (okay, maybe it was an hour) to visit LC.  She's just as cute as she was on Saturday, maybe cuter, and she and I had a nice visit while I tried to trot her into not fussing.  Unsuccessful, I handed her off to her Mama and she got her quiet in, like, a minute and not by sticking something in her mouth.  There's all kinds of new theories and techniques to shush a fussy baby; I gotta watch that DVD.  I have to say that her parents look like they haven't slept since she was born.  Did we look like that?  Probably.  They haven't gotten to the "asleep on the couch with baby on chest" stage but I predict that's a possibility within the next month.

January 6--Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of the Catholic Faith.  "Her dress was as blue as the spring sky."  That's what Papa always said when he talked about the first time he saw Mama.  He said that dress made him want to paint her.  Dean laughed that he wouldn't want to be the one that painted Mama, that she didn't like getting dirty so he thought she wouldn't like being covered in paint.  Deal always thought he was a comedian but I never thought it was all that funny.  Papa would sit and explain that he wanted to paint her picture, not her person, and Dean would put on a serious look and let poor Papa ramble on.

I did half an hour of Wii yoga this morning and while it made parts of me sore (I'm looking at you, right hip), it also made me warm.  That is a good thing, a real good thing.  I'm going to go take my shower right now so that all of me is totally dry before I venture out into the deep freeze.  Yesterday I portioned out a couple weeks' worth of chicken soup and fruit salad and I just put them out into the car.  I figured it was cold enough to substitute for the fridge; I'll probably have to leave some out to thaw for lunch.  Stay warm, kiddies, bundle up or stay home if you can.
--Barbara

1 comment:

Aunt B said...

We are going to have one day of winter down here. Long icicles on the fountain this morning but it's supposed to be up to 68 by the weekend! Weird!!!