Winter Ramblings

I don’t know about any of you but I am DONE with winter this year. I haven’t felt much like writing, am tired of being cold and am so tired of snow and ice EVERYWHERE. Yesterday, the 4th of March was the coldest March 4th on record for this area…ever.Ugh! And it has really taken a toll on our roads. Coming from the south where you don’t have these -34 degree days, it is so much easier to maintain the roads. Of course when it does snow there, everyone looks at each other and says “What do we do now? Oh yea, empty the stores of bread and milk.” But they do them same if a hurricane is coming. Guess its the go to norm.

A lot of the roads here are concrete, which in these bitter temps get brittle, then we throw salt on them that eats the concrete as well as your car, then we run a snow plow on them scrapping up anything that dare be loose. And don’t get me started on the parking lots.

The older roads are cobblestone which in my book is a fancy word for brick. The road in front of my house is cobblestone. One of the oldest roads in town and one of the few not paved over. There is not a single pot hole. You have a few ‘waves’ but if you don’t drive like a typical teenager, they are fine. But saying that, it does amaze me how fast even adults drive on this road. 1 – its a neighborhood, 2- its cobblestone. I can hear you coming 2 blocks away with your tires running across those bricks.

I also find it interesting that to pave over the brick they use asphalt. Don’t know if that is an economical option or the only option for cobblestone. But as the asphalt break up, the cobblestone shows through in seeming good condition. So it make me wonder and ramble on through my frozen winter thoughts.

Today it warmed up to 18 degrees but a wind of 24 mph gives you feel a very cold wind chill. The formula for figuring wind chill is a little beyond my desire to really know what it is. Take my word for it, its cold. But I wanted out so out I went. I stopped at the bridge park and it is still a sheet of ice but the geese were there nibbling at what little grass they could find. Then a beautiful bald eagle flew by and settled in one of the oak trees near the water’s edge of the park. I wanted to get closer to get a better picture but it was too icy.

When it gets warm I will get some good shots of the eagles as they live all along the rivers in this area. Meantime, enjoy the geese. They were so interesting to watch as they would be up on only one leg while keeping the other leg warm then switch legs or just sit down to keep the wind off their kegs.

According to the current forecast, this past Monday should be the last negative temperature day for the season. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the mid 20s. That will feel like a heat wave compared to what the last 7 weeks have been like. And hopefully by the weekend, the polar vortex will have moved on and give us more seasonal temps.

So as we dream of warmer days that may be coming within a couple weeks, let’s remember to share our warm thoughts with others and to be kind.