Time for a cold one!

Lest there be any confusion, let me state plainly that I do NOT like hot weather.  Nor apparently does hot weather like me.  I tend to get severe headaches when the temps start approaching the upper 80s, and if it's also humid, I live on Extra Strength Excedrin & Benadryl, and cold caffeine.

Since we've had the last several days in the 90s, I've been fighting headaches mostly with caffeine and chocolate.  I'd gladly pop the Excedrin, except I'm scheduled to donate blood tomorrow.  That means I'm not supposed to have anything w/ aspirin in it 48 hours prior to donating.  The headaches haven't been debilitating, but they are annoying.

So, in an effort to get my mind off the heat and humidity outside, I'm posting pictures from winters past, or snow storms, or ice storms.

When I took these first pics, I lived in a 3rd floor apartment.  I'm assuming the paw prints were left by squirrels.

This pic was taken through the window - I had to sequester the beasties before I could think of opening the patio door.

Yup, beasties were successfully sequestered, and I ventured outside for a few minutes.

This was taken at Mom's house later that same day - there was a lot of drifting snow . . .

I liked the way the snow stuck to the chimney, heavier in spots than in others.

I'd forgotten how much snow the pine trees could hold!

One of my friends has 5+ acres of land with their house, and one winter decided to build a small ice rink; the kids had a blast.  Unfortunately that winter, it only got cold enough for the rink a couple of times.

This is what frost on the grass looks like at 7 a.m. in October, up close.  It was too freaking early to be up, let alone shivering at a soccer tournament.

This is what the same frost on the grass looks like from a distance - more like a light dusting of snow!  I almost wished I was out there playing, just to help stay warm.

These last photos are from the ice storm in February of 2011.  The parking lot at the apartment was more like a skating rink than parking lot, and it took forever to clean off the car windows.  I think I turned the defrost on for at least 15 minutes before it started to melt any of the ice.

Yes, it was beautiful to look at, but it was treacherous to get around on.

I do believe I'm feeling cooler now.  It is time to make sure I get more fluids in me, along w/ another round of Benadryl . . . might have to hit the cold caffeine though . . . Diet Mt. Dew, I hope you're ice cold by now. 

Spring Freeze

Knew it had been too good to last.  All of this unseasonably warm weather would have to suddenly turn on us.  Yup!  Tonight we have a freeze advisory until tomorrow morning at 9 (right now it's in the low 60s).  So glad I haven't started planting anything yet.

But, talk of potential freezing temps tonight reminds me of the previous two February snow/ice storms we were "blessed" with.  I didn't mind them too much because I didn't have to go anywhere either time, but those who did sure had some fun cleaning off their cars and negotiating the slippery roads.  I did get to go out to take pictures (I know, that's not a surprise) . . . it was, of course, freezing, but another opportunity to try something new - snow/ice pics.

These are from the snow storm in February 2010.  It was a great day to be living on the 3rd floor (which is how I was able to get pics of the upper branches coated w/ snow) and cuddling w/ the beastie boys.  It's funny that they are such a good indicator of how cold it is by how close they want to be to each other and to me . . .

These ice pictures were from February 2011, and I was in the midst of packing and moving.  It was a great excuse to take time to do anything else.  I think I took about 30 pictures in 10 or 15 minutes 'cause it was definitely COLD.  I also defrosted the car windows, which took about 20-30 minutes.  I couldn't even begin to touch the ice before defrosting; I considered myself lucky to be able to get into the car w/out much effort.

Yes, I'm aware that we are highly unlikely to have similar weather conditions tonight.  But, the "threat" of freezing weather reminded me of these pictures.  There are so many times we're all faced with sudden changes (weather, health, employment, etc.) and feel as if we can't cope.  But, how many of us, when faced w/ a sudden snow or ice storm, but MUST get to work, find a way to deal with it and get to work?  We may not have a plan, but we work at shoveling the snow or scraping the ice until we can move the car or see out the windows.  Did we use the best or easiest method?  Maybe; maybe not.  Does that really matter?  We did what we had to do under the conditions faced at the time.  There will be time later to reflect on whether we either could or should have done things differently.  Let's celebrate the success for what it is - success!!  We succeed at many things every day; let's not spend those days beating ourselves up for what we didn't accomplish or succeed at.