Warmth!

No, not here! Still ice and snow though it's 34 now on my porch. I changed my FaceBook picture recently to one made in June, 2006. It was taken at the overlook by 'Opaeka'a Falls, Kauai, Hawaii. A good description and picture of the falls is on wikipedia.

(Our local newspaper has a travel section, and that picture was printed in the paper. I wanted to show that people who do not see well - notice I'm holding my white cane - do go places and do things. It was a bit windy, as you can see from my bangs. That's my sunglasses on top of my head.)

I got to go on a tour with 13 others, all acquaintances from the church of Christ (we got to attend worship there with the church near Honolulu one Sunday, and had worship on-board the ship the other Sunday). Each of us flew to Honolulu (some on a Thursday, some Friday, I arrived Saturday mid-day), then got on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship on Monday afternoon.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was that Monday morning when I rode the city bus and went by myself to the Dole Plantation. I really liked the Dole Plantation, and I enjoyed the bus ride because it wasn't "touristy", plus I wanted to compare the Oahu transit to ours here in Birmingham.

My hotel roommate, then cabinmate, was a lady from Atlanta who was 20+ years older than me. While the trip was OK, I didn't feel like it was worth the approximate $3,000 I spent for it.

Mo' Snow!

Here's two more I made this morning. Yeah, yeah, to all you Nanooks of the North, what's the big deal? Well, here in the "sunny" South, even this much snow and ice is enough to paralyze the city. I've seen a couple of pickup trucks pass by, but the newspaper carrier didn't show, not sure about the garbage truck, the fixed route buses are running (but who'd want to stand out in this mess and go anywhere?) ... and mid-afternoon, I saw 3 or 4 ATVs whiz by, a few more cars, and even some teenage boys out walking! Me? A good day to crawl into a box of yarn!

What a "pane"

... or "looking at the world through" ice crystals!

The WEATHER again!

Pretty bad when lately that's about all I write about, huh?

Friday was beautiful - cloudless and real sunny and about 60 degrees! I did have to wear layers because the wind was cold, but I rode the fixed route bus to buy some groceries. At least the bus ran on time.

Yesterday was sunny but cold, so except for getting the newspaper and walking to the mailbox, I stayed in.

Today? Ha! We did have morning worship (9:30 - 11:30) but the 5:00 service was canceled. (One couple has to go to Maine in a day or 2 to the funeral of the man's sister.)

The garbage truck comes by my house about 6:15 Monday and Thursday mornings, so about 5:30, I decided to take 2 little sacks to the street. Wrong ... the front steps were already getting slick. I looked outside about 8:15 this evening, and there's a good inch of snow covering my whole back deck.

I rather doubt that anything will be moving tomorrow - and that includes the newspaper carrier, the garbage truck, the mail carrier, the buses ... When I start to 2nd guess myself about having quit my job, I'll think of this weather.

Today's "Garfield" comic strip was this: Garfield was outside and one snowflake came down. He stomped it. Then a couple more snowflakes came down, and he stomped them. Then a LOT of snow started falling. He went inside, crawled in bed, and covered his head. John lifted a corner of Garfield's cover. Garfield said, "Wake me at the vernal equinox".

Amen. Hope YOU are warm.

Happy New Year!

I wrote that yesterday was a heat wave. I was wrong. It wasn't. The temperature got to 72 today!

I got a ride to the grocery store, and sat on my porch to read the paper and crochet and eat! Storms forecast for tonight and tomorrow - 100% chance of rain, then back to freezing. Party tonight 6-10 (church folks like last year) canceled - too many out sick.

Too late to arrange to go to the Alabama Symphony Orchestra's New Year's Eve concert. This is the 9th one they've had, and I've attended 5 of them - missed the 1st in 2003 because of eye surgery, missed another because it was Sunday and no way to get there, missed last year's because of the aforementioned party. They are early: 6-about 8:15, held at The Alabama Theater, and a sell-out or almost. I've always bought a "nose-bleed" seat (the cheapest but the sound is the best). The ASO fashions the concert on the ones held in Vienna, Austria, ending with the "The Blue Danube" waltz and the "Radetzy Polka". You can find wonderful versions of those 2 songs on youtube.

At least with the rain, the neighborhood should be quiet!

Uh-oh!

Today is a "heat wave"! The temperature is mid-50s. Still chilly wind, and damp air (storms forecast).

I wish our mayor and city council members were forced to ride the city buses. They spend so much money for "consultants" for things that have either been voted down (such a domed stadium - the 17,000 seat arena we have is rarely filled), or for other projects that would be fine if more of us could get to and from such places.

The bus people get the blame when NO ONE can do anything without money! There is no dedicated funding here for public transit.

The 1st "uh-oh" today is that it took me an hour and a half to go somewhere which should have taken about 30 minutes. I scheduled paratransit to go a store. The driver was on time and had no other stops before dropping me off. The transmission on that bus was acting up, so she drove to the bus yard (which was on the way) to get another bus. The 2nd bus stalled right after she rounded malfunction junction downtown. She got it rolling again, but almost hit a concrete overpass rail in getting the bus off the travel lane. She radioed for a supervisor and for a mechanic. After she dropped me off, she was to get a lady in a wheelchair. The bus that the mechanic brought ran fine, but the lift wouldn't work, so I know another driver had to pick up the other person. The dispatcher did at least let me get my ticket back.

The 2nd "uh-oh" is that the store I went to was Michael's Arts & Crafts. I bought about $200 worth! But at least I paid less than $100 (had you going there, didn't I!) ... because of a gift certificate and because all but 3 small items I bought were on sale! It's hard for me to pass up soft 100% wool yarn that's 40% off in price! I bought that as well as other beautiful yarn and some other things, a few which were 70% off (wintry things: snowflakes, etc.). I make a lot of hat/scarf sets, some shawls, some baby blankets, and so on. I will gradually be posting pictures of things I make, which I will sell, on my other blog.

So now I've got even more yarn to knit (some) and crochet (a lot)! If you'd like to buy some of the things I make, let me know!

Still Cold!

It's getting old staying inside, so with the thermometer on the front porch showing 40 (a heat wave!), I put silk long johns on under my slacks, added a tank top under a turtle neck long sleeve pullover, socks and Crocs, gloves, a fuzzy beret, and a windbreaker with a hood, and left home for almost an hour. Three of the 4 front steps were still icy, so I put a bath towel on them to get to the driveway. I left the towel on the car(less) carport, knowing I'd need it later. I walked the equivalent of a block or 2 to the Family Dollar store and bought a few goodies. My new phone has a camera, so even though my neighbors' yards have been clear of snow since Sunday afternoon, my yard still has snow! Here's a picture of my front yard, and the SE corner of the back yard. Brrr!