BRRRRRRRRR..........

We now have about an inch of white stuff on the ground. Now mind you, we were expected to get really cold this week, but only locations from Tacoma SOUTH were expecting snow! HRMMMMM They missed again.

I LOVE snow. I love to lay on my stomach and peer out the bedroom window and watch it snow, and watch the birds scratch through it to get to the seeds on the platform feeder. I Love to watch the snow stack up on the backs of the squirrels that are sitting on the feeeder. Nothing keeps the critters from having breakfast.

I am supposed to have taken the TURKEY up to Lynden to my son's house so that they can start it thawing and have it in the oven when we get there on THURSDAY, however, the roads are not conducive to driving 75 miles up and back in a few hours. I thought now how can I get them a turkey? SAFEWAY!!! I bought a gift card, stuck it in the mail, and it should get there tomorrow so they can go 5 miles into Lynden and buy what they need. AND, if the roads are still un drivable, I dont have to worry. They can go ahead and have their own dinner, and Bob and I can go down to the community potluck, and not sweat the drive!

The weather is predicted to warm up by Thursday, but it is cold enough right now, to keep the ground pretty cold for a week or so. Is this La Nina really going to be the worst in 75 years? KEWL!!! I am ready. Plenty of wood, plenty of books, plenty of food, plenty of pet food, and I suppose I should fill the water jugs in case the power goes out and the pump generator (community well) quits working. I am ready! Actually I am looking forward to it.

Yeah, I know! I AM Nuts!!! Must be the Girl Scout in me. BE PREPARED!!

Chilly November.

BRRRRRRR!! As predicted, La Nina has made our November weather colder and wetter than normal. But it also was unpredictable, in that we just had a very windy few days with one storm system after another coming in off the Pacific and slamming into us.

We had two days of winds over 61 MPH, and trees down, power lines down, lights off, and WET! The rain hit first, pounding down like hail stones, but it was only rain. Then the winds hit. I was driving home in the worst of it, and just as I left Oak Harbor, the lights went out. It is odd driving in the dark, when you know there are homes and businesses out there in the void. As I left city limits, and headed on down the island, the wind buffeted the car around like a toy. It was blowing me into the oncoming lane. Thank Goodness I was driving slow enough to correct with out flipping the car. There was a car right behind me that was tailgating like he was getting ready to pass, when I whipped into the other lane, and the wind hit him too. He backed way off, slowed down and behaved himself the rest of the way.

As I got into Coupeville, all of the lights there were on. So I drove through the only stoplight in town, and headed on down island. I was approaching a very narrow part of the highway, and there were trees right up to the fog lines on both sides of the road, so I slowed way down, expecting a tree to be down across the road. I rounded a curve and right there was every emergency vehicle in the town of Coupeville, all cleaning up the mess of branches and trees right where I knew they would be. I was waved on through, over the branches, and around the trees, and then on down the road. I was all hunkered down, with my head down below the steering wheel, thinking that if a tree did hit me, maybe I could duck down and be safe.

It was pretty dicey driving the rest of the way home, and there were several more trees down and power lines hanging. I made it the 20 miles home, and pulled into my driveway just in time for the latest gust of wind to take out the power in my neighborhood. I grabbed the flashlight, left my headlights on, and went on in the house, put every thing down, then closed and locked the car, and the front door.

In Our part of the country, you learn to live with emergency supplies as part of the decorations in your livingroom. Hanging from the ceiling right over one of the end tables, was a Coleman Gas lantern, so I grabbed, it, the matches and the flashlight and headed for the bedroom. I lit the lamp, and crawled under the covers, and read a book.

The next morning, When I woke up, the lights were back on, so I put the lantern back on the hook, and brought in two loads of wood, and waited for the next round. It hit the next day, with winds just as bad, but no power outages, and I stayed home.

Tonight we are waiting for the temperature to fall below freezing and stay there for a few days. Snow is predicted in some places, but we hardly ever get it. My Son called last night, to tell me that in Lynden where he lives, about 5 miles from the Canadian border, that the wind was blowing really hard and the snow was blowing sideways. The news/weather man had just showed his town under blizzard conditions!

Novembers here are usually like most of you have Octobers. Chilly, but not extreme, and our cold weather waits until January or February. Tonight I am laying here under the blankets, looking out at the woods at an almost full bright moon showing through the branches of the alders. It is still, and crisp, and the temps are falling. right now the thermometer in my window is registering 35 degree F. so I know it must be about 30. The weather teasers on the TV just said that the temperatures are plummeting, and low land snow is expected tonight. We shall see.
I need to get a turkey up to Tim's house some time really soon, so that they can enjoy their first Thanksgiving as a family. They are safe, and for the moment, warm, and the baby is fine, and they will all remember this.

Phyllis and I grew up here and look forward to the excitement that stormy weather brings us. We have all the right emergency equipment on hand, and can survive for several weeks. It is just another thing to keep boredom at bay. WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!

A touch of the Season

little bit of natural history.......
Amazing.............


Penguins
Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica - where do they go ?

Wonder no more ! ! !


It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life.
The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintaining a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life.
If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into and buried.
The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing:

"Freeze a jolly good fellow"

"Freeze a jolly good fellow."


"Then they kick him in the ice hole." !!!


You really didn't believe that I know anything about penguins, did you!