Snow Predictions for 2011

My car this morning with about 3 inches of snow on it.

Well here it is, the Farmers’ Almanac predictions for 2011

They say a cold winter up north this year, like a cold slap in the face. As for storms, January calls for a major storm up New England way from the 20^th to the 23^rd. February 1^st-3^rd calls for stormy weather too. In fact, February appears to be stormy all the way through it. Surprise. It’s February. It’s supposed to be stormy isn’t it?  March also appears to have its stormy weather coming, but from the 4^th to the 7^th temperatures could get up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine that.

Here in the Atlanta area we got three to four inches of snow in my area starting last night. It has now turned to freezing rain, which isn't good. We got groceries yesterday and have electricity and cable TV. So we're set till we can get out again. The above picture was taken a few minutes ago. See more in the other blog, "Snow in Georgia." Of course everyone has already bought out all the milk, bread, and eggs in the grocery stores as well as put up a store of beer for the duration. The thing about weather predictions here is that they always include the Atlanta area in with the North Georgia mountains. Well of course it’s going to snow up there. We never end up with much more than an inch or so. There are exceptions, however, today for example.

You folks up there don’t realize that Atlanta is in the upper half of Georgia. We do get weather here from time to time. What we really have to worry about, however, is freezing rain and the “black ice” that results from it. I’d rather deal with the snow, personally.

Generally speaking, winters are getting warmer overall. Whether it is due to global warming is debatable. I do remember some very severe winters up in the old neighborhood in the South End. We took it all in stride it seems. I don’t ever remember running out of milk or bread, do you? If school was out for a storm, we’d get the old Brewster suits out and go have some fun in the snow.

There is a commercial on TV here right now advertising a fun day in the snow over at Stone Mountain. Stone Mountain is a local attraction. Civil war heroes are carved into the face of a rock much like the faces at Mt. Rushmore. Therefore, attractions like a replica of an old Southern mansion have been built up around it. There is a train ride up over the “rock.” It’s a major tourist attraction in these parts. I’ve been there several times and there is always something different to see. They also have camping and swimming areas.

Well, the folks at Stone Mountain have decided to try to cash in on the winter snow trade if possible. Therefore, they have manufactured “snow” down the side of that hill and you can go down it on a huge rubber tire with your kids. Of course, you have to pay to do this. How many of you up there in snow country would pay to go snow tubing? Not many I think.

Here’s a  snow tubing picture from the Stone Mountain site. It does look like fun, doesn’t it?

While I’m on this snow kick, do you have any snow pictures from recent past years to share with us? Just email them to me as an attachment and I’d be glad to show them. Please identity the location, year, etc. Thanks.

Meanwhile, have fun in the snow and keep it all up there if you can, O.K. I’d appreciate it.

Thanks for listening.

Snow Pictures from the Farm in Bremen

These snow photos come from cousin, Diane Hilton O'Connor. They are from 2009 and show her Bremen farm, whose original house was the Hilton Homestead, which is over 200 years old. She shot these photos from  each compass direction. I spent many happy hours on this farm. Enjoy.

From the east, showing the barn.

From the North, showing the bungalow on the property.

From the South looking across the fields

From the West

Snow Pictures from Home

Here's a couple shots from home for all you snowbirds in Florida and other warm places. My friend and former classmate, Jean Rowling Monroe, sent them to me.

Jean calls this shot, "Sunrise at Sunset View Farm." It is her home in Hope, Maine. It was shot on December 29, 2010. WABI TV used it on their weather channel.

This picture shows what Jean's daughter, Teresa, saw when she opened her cellar door on the morning of December 20, 2010. I don't know where in Maine it was shot but I believe it is a local area. The shot was used on WCSH TV on December 29, 2010, the same day Jean's was shown on the WABI channel.

If you have some snow pictures of 2010 or 2011 you'd like to share, please send them to me as an attachment in an email.

Riding Out the Recession

As we look forward to the New Year, we should all take a deep breath and say to ourselves, “It won’t be like this forever.” People are out of work. Retailers are suffering. Homes are being foreclosed on and stores are going out of business. I’m not going to get political here because I don’t believe it would be any different if that other party were now in the White House. You can’t bring a nation like ours out of a recession overnight. Enough said on that front.

In my own future, I see Nanci and I living here for another year after this before we can move on from here. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to live in an apartment and have to tolerate charges that are unnecessary, and rent raises, with no increased amenities.

You also have to put up with all the little aggravations inherent in living in a huge apartment complex like this. Like garage doors that make a racket when they go up under the apartment. It’s like living in very close proximity to a couple thousand or more people. I figure that this complex could probably house everyone who presently lives in the South End. However, we have made a home here for the time being. We are “riding it out.”

We must all have hope for the future. You never know what might be around the corner. Looking back only makes you depressed. What “might have been” are three words we should discard from our vocabulary. We can do it if we stick together and help each other out when we can.

As I’m writing this blog, the desk under my computer is moving. It cost me all of $50 dollars when we moved in here and I think the $50 dollar use I hoped to get out of it is about up. So when it goes I’ll probably go to Goodwill or someplace similar and see if I can replace it “for the time being.” My point is, we have to compromise in times like this and realize things are indeed only temporary.

On that note, I would like to mention a few things I’ve had to adjust to since the flood. It’s like a selective reasoning process I think. When you have only a few hours to gather belongings you’ve had for the better part of 30 years or more, you have to be selective. What do I really have to take with me. What can I live without.

When we finally got everything moved into this place, I couldn’t remember exactly what I had and what I didn’t until I needed it. For instance, somewhere in my selective reasoning process I decided not to gather up a lot of the little things lying around the house that could be replaced. One of those things was the little straw sewing basket my mother gave me years ago. So one day after we’d moved in I found I needed to sew on a button. Guess what? When I went to look for that basket, it wasn’t there. I had forgotten that I hadn’t replaced it yet; therefore, I had to go out and get a small sewing repair kit to use “for the time being.”

There have been several instances like that since we moved here. We still need more cooking dishes. I really need a new desk. Some new socks would be great too. Out of those three things guess what I’ll probably purchase. Yep, the socks. The rest can wait while we “ride it out.”

I know that if there are people older than I reading this blog, they will say, “Yes. We had to do the same kind of things during the Great Depression.” They had to ride out that terrible period in our country and they came out stronger for it. We should follow their example. Things will get better. Trust me.

Thanks for listening.

NOTE: In my Christmas Letter I forgot to mention the fun time we all had down at Sandy Beach this summer when some of my blogger fans got together with me for a picnic. Let’s try to do it again next summer. O.K.? Any suggestion for next year’s picnic are greatly appreciated.