Covid Journal, Day 318: Yuck

33 and rain, or snow or sleet, changing back and forth all morning, then rain. Tonight, supposed to be snow.

It has been another inside kind of day, with snow in the morning, then sleet, then rain and snow, then rain. And tonight, more snow is supposed to be on the way. We're lucky, I suppose that the bulk of this storm went north and south and east of us, leaving us in a quiet little hole in the middle. The weather radar certainly looked strange.

A mix of ice and snow on the table. 

So we've been inside, with the fireplace lit, almost all day. For me, it's not an issue--most of my activities are inside anyway. I listed on eBay, packed eBay sales, put the final coat of paint on a table, the first coat on two chairs, and final touches on the little buffet. I cooked our first piece of ham from our hog for dinner, and put yellow rice and veggies with it. Delicious. 

Larry has been all out of kilter. He is used to spending most of his day outside, but this was not possible today. So he napped, then messed around in the workroom, napped again, and finally settled in to watch a movie. A very inactive day for him, but the rest will do him good.

Tomorrow? More of the same on the way, I hear. I'll be busy enough, but Larry is probably going to don rain gear and escape. This man can only be kept inside so long!

Off to finish my book. I'm reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Her writing is excellent, but the characters just leave me cold. I cannot identify or empathize with any of them, which makes it difficult to keep my interest in the story, but I am almost finished so I'll soldier on.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 311: Snow Bird

27 this morning, overcast. Now some light snow and chance of freezing rain later. Temps in the mornings have been similar the past few days, but yesterday was a pretty day, almost warm at 40 degrees. 

We're having a little fluff of snow this afternoon, which isn't expected to amount to much. I'd remarked to Larry the other day that I had not seen any snowbirds, but they are flocking to the feeders today. Perhaps they've been here and I didn't notice, but I don't think they arrived until recently as I know I had not seen them before Christmas.

Usually these little visitors arrive at the end of November or beginning of December. When they come we know cold weather is ahead, and when they leave we feel pretty sure the worst of winter is behind us. The official name for these hooded and winged birds is Dark-Eyed Junco, but Snowbird seems to fit them well. The website Birds and Blooms has some interesting information about this species, including research that suggests that it is not temperature but the length of daylight that affects their migrating patterns. Which makes me wonder why the birds arrived later this year? While temperatures are warmer than historically, the length of days remains the same. 

This is an older photo from my blog, but one of my favorites.

Around here, Snowbird also refers to those who flee to Florida for the winter. It used to be quite the thing, and actually, it still is. Several of our friends do it, although I wonder if they left for the sunny lands this winter, with COVID still rampant in Florida. It might have been safer to stay home this year.

I had forgotten this beautiful song. Anne Murray sings it here. 

This poem was published in a 1928 edition of Poetry magazine. I subscribe to Poetry but didn't realize how long it had been in publication. One thing that is noticeable in older poems is the adherence to rhyme and rhythm in most works; today's poetry usually has a discernable rhythm, but rhyming is not often used anymore, and exclamation points are even more rare. This was written by Glenn Ward Dresbach, a poet born in Illinois, but who spent the later years of his life in Arkansas. Dresbach was originally an accountant, but his life was anything but boring. He worked in the canal zone in Panama for the Panama Railroad from 1911 to 1915, then moved to New Mexico to work, signed up and served in WWI as a medic. After the war, he married and moved to Texas,and later back to his home state of Illinois, still working in the financial field. In 1932 he quit work and devoted his time to writing poetry. He was widely published and well known as a poet during his lifetime, but his poetry has fallen out of favor in our times. Still, this little poem has images that I like, and I especially like the second verse.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 256: Snow!

30 and snowing. Continued all day, with about 5" accumulation.

Remember my post the other day, the one where I was picking flowers? Definitely didn't do any of that today.

We holed up. I worked on getting Christmas decorations out and general puttering, and Larry was in and out taking care of the critters, getting in wood for the fireplace, and such things. He cannot stay inside for more than an hour when it's light out. He ended up out in the workroom finally, when he decided it really was too cold to be out.

So now to decide: does this count as a November 30 snowfall, or a December 1 storm? It's important because according to folklore, the date of the first measurable snowfall is how many measurable snows we'll have that winter. In this case, you can see why it's a weighty matter. About 2-3 inches of snow fell yesterday evening, and then about 2-" more today. So...how do we count it?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.