Winter: An Analysis

Since Ms Sarah Palin was hired by Fox News--for probably a fair amount of money--to be a commentator and analyst, I figured, why not me? I think I will make some business cards that say Commentator/Analyst. And here is my first analysis:

Winter is very very very very cold sometimes.

This, my first full winter in North Carolina, feels biblical. I said that to my boss at the library and she said, so next you are expecting frogs raining down from the sky? Well, I have to say I wouldn't be surprised...though they would be flash frozen and that would hurt.

It started with a heavy wet snow that fell hard and fast, downing trees and powerlines which led to no power for many many many many many many hours. I believe somewhere in there, there were one or two days of moderate weather but it's a bit of a blur. Shortly thereafter, the deep freeze moved in and stayed and stayed and stayed. I am pretty good at wrapping up now. [Hot tip: I went to the fabric store and bought a half-yard of 60" wide deep purple embossed fleece, cut it in half lengthwise so I now have two 9" wide x 60" long mufflers--no sewing. I wrap one around and around and around and am very comfy in the whipping winds. It cost something like $3.69.] Yesterday it was 28 degrees and I thought there was hope. My hands were not frozen inside my mittens.

This morning, Baru Bear and I headed outside for our morning walk and it was, again, 28 degrees with a misty rainy snow like substance falling from the sky. By the time we hit the asphalt road at the bottom of mine, it was slippery. My neighbors came around the corner. I told them it was icy--something that might be more obvious in rubber-soled Merrills than in a Subaru Forester. Bear and I continued around to say good morning to the horses. It's not a bad place to walk because I can hear cars coming from either direction and we can get to the side that is wider in plenty of time. As a car came speeding down the hill, I said aloud, Careful...it's slippery, and the car hit the curve and started fishtailing, heading straight at the Large Hound and me. My heart was beating extremely hard. I pulled Bear in close and got as far out of the way as possible, not knowing which of the ways was out. I don't know if we were why she went into a 180 degree skid or if that was part of her efforts to slow down but thankfully she came to a stop across the road--where Bear and I would have been had we not run across the road. It was a heckuva way to start the day. My Introduction to Black Ice.

I went into the library a couple hours later. On the road in, which is a 45 MPH zone, even the usual cowboys were going under 25MPH. A relief to me. There were several cars in ditches along side the road. It wasn't pretty.

So we've had record snows, record winds, record power outages, record temperatures, and record broken pipes (in town--not at my house yet...so I guess I could expect that one day soon). Black Ice was ice-ing on the cake. I am not sure what else winter has to offer but heck, we still have over two months to go. Bring it on.

PNewL PNewS Volume 17 Issue 4

I wanted to get this done earlier--and you will notice that most of this was written a few weeks back--but I found a lengthy early winter storm caused some distress. This goes on a bit...because apparently I needed to. Bear with me (pun?). I hope this finds you all in a happy place at the beginning of a new decade. I hope you and your credit cards survived the holiday season and that's the last I am going to say about any of that. Stay warm, good health, and lots of friends and fun. Onward!!! Let's see what the New Year has in store!

PNewL PNewS

Volume 17 Number 4 "All the pnews that phits." January 2010

Life with Dog in Winter

It seems important for me to note, as perhaps I have in the past, I am not a dog person per se. That is: I can find myself smiling at other dogs—I generally like dogs—as opposed to not being a cat person where I really just don’t care for the concept of cats though can occasionally find a cat I enjoy being with. But my life is not about dogs, I do not “champion” or volunteer for/with dogs, I only watch dog shows on TV if channel surfing really drags, the two dog shows I attended were just short of coma inducing, and there are plenty of dogs I plain don’t care for. But MY dog, be it Rocket, Dusty, Sally, Beandip or Senor Baru Bear have been as dear to my heart as many a friend.

Hanging with Bear lately has been a treat, a gift and a challenge. Tonight, with over a foot of snow on the ground, the power out (and a fully charged laptop), candles glowing all around the living room (who knew I owned so many?), and Bear chewing heartily on a bone, I am as grateful for his presence as I have perhaps ever been for almost anyone. He is good solid company.

Recently our co-parenting relationship of the extremely large hound has shifted. Gini who seemed to be the more regionally stable person was no longer and I became the person who knew where she was going to be for the longer haul so Bear is here for the most part. I admit that was an adjustment but made me feel even better about the exorbitant amount of money I put into the backyard fence. (Amortized over the –brief—life of a Great Dane mix, it’s still wonky…but his being here closer to year-round helps.)

In September, he was diagnosed with heartworm which is just what it sounds like—worms in the heart. While he has taken the preventative meds, there is a chance we missed a day or two (I swear he has the most delicate constitution of any body weighing 120 lbs), and there is a chance the meds don’t always work (which is why dogs NEED the test). After an additional three months of heartworm meds (to see if the existing worms might die on their own), he underwent two days of treatment in the hospital. He came home with two bare patches (on his Bear butt) where they injected the poison, and instructions to keep the big boy calm (no excess heart pumping exercise). Oh joy—he’s a puppy—it’s hardly in his nature. When I ran into my neighbor Eddie the Vet, he said the worst time could be about 21 days post-treatment (when the heart is pumping the dead worms away). Doing the math, that’s Christmas, baby.

So we are being calm. Instead of my life’s work being to exhaust the dog, my new job is to keep the dog calm. We have gone through two expensive leashes. (Sorry Martha—I’ll explain. I know I asked for a new leash for Christmas but it’s already come and gone despite the fact I shouldn’t have opened the package yet. Thanks for the thought—love ya!) He loves winter: loves the ice— loves breaking it and falling into the slushy cold water below. He seems to like the steamy air he exhales. He has mastered slipping on the ice and testing the snow for exactly how it will react to his weight. We have to go down and see the horses at the end of the road to make our morning walk complete. We find distractions but he hasn’t really been tired in a long time—nothing tires him like other dogs.

And that is the tragedy of this experience: keeping him from his puppy buddies and not being able to explain why. We often walk over to Leah and Loveeta’s houses which are Puppy Central. There is usually someone to rile there and Bear is always looking for Sampson, who is often hanging around. So we are struggling with this being calm stuff and walking walking walking without other dogs. Neighbors stop and marvel at how often they see us on the road. We are certainly part of the ‘hood.

Watching Snow Melt

It’s Monday, mid-day, Baru Bear’s 4^th Birthday. The power went out on Friday evening. Rumor has it we might get it back tomorrow night. I actually got part of the house hot today with the gas fireplace. That is a welcome change. The sun is out and it is really quite lovely. Snow filled trees, mountains surrounding us filled with the white stuff, big puffy clouds, blue blue blue sky. I feel lucky to live here though it might be better if my hair was clean. I could use a shower.

The snow came in quickly and heavily on Friday—schools were closed in anticipation. It broke gobs of trees all over the region. When Bear and I went out for a walk on Saturday morning, he was afraid of the wind and when I saw the debris on the road, so was I. There were lines down in a couple places. Everything felt a wee bit out of kilter, unstable, intimidating. When people who know how to deal with this stuff were out and about, branches were trimmed, others were out walking and things felt a little less precarious.

We got out yesterday and the world beyond our neighborhood is in a somewhat business as usual routine. People were shopping downtown despite the fact most parking spaces were filled with snow plowed from the streets. We went to a Christmas music event—Swannanoa Solstice—and attendees looked pretty presentable on the top with hiking/combat/snow boots on the bottom. It was nice to feel normal. I totally get Cabin Fever now. And the music was fun and festive, reminding of us that oh yes, it’s Christmas time.

There are still a lot of trees hanging over wires, even in town. It appears that we in the hinterlands will be at the end of the list of homes getting back on line or close to it. Some of my neighbors are already back up but Ray says we are “at the end of the rat’s tail” because of the way the lines were run. As of yesterday (Sunday), they’d gone from a high of 70,000+ without power to under 30,000. Meanwhile, my car is going to have to wait for more snow to melt before I can get it to the road and over the piles plowed at the end of the driveway.

I’m frankly a bit weary of it all. I was telling my neighbors that I could keep an upbeat attitude until Sunday morning but after that it was going to be a stretch. Sunday morning, I cried to some poor neighbor facing his own challenges, “I’m a suburbanite for crikey’s sake. I have no skills for living like this!” My neighbors with skills are splitting wood and running generators. All of that scares me. I just want water and power and garbage collection, and mail and newspaper delivery and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” on the dark silent radio.

A couple weeks later: Now, I realize I do have some skills to deal with the storm. As I was telling someone, I got to a point where I just couldn’t do it any more and we both laughed. She said, “It’s like childbirth—you think you can’t do it any more but it doesn’t really matter. It’s happening.” Yup. And I recognize the upsides (a couple weeks after the fact) to this experience.

Three neighbors called just prior to the storm to make sure I was ok and was prepared (“fill buckets, find flashlights”) and that felt really good. We stayed in touch in person and via cell phones throughout.

The snow was really pretty and quiet and Bear loves it.

I made a new friend walking endlessly up and down the roads. She introduced me to a crampon-like product that fits over my boots that will make icy walks safer. I will get a pair this week from Curtis Wright Outfitters on Main Street in Weaverville. (There Jeff—it’s not the sandwich board you wanted me to wear but it’s a teeny tiny advertisement!)

I had three dead trees removed this fall and am pleased with my responsible behavior as the pick-up-sticks look to my front yard is moderate compared to what it would have been.

The holly tree only lost a few limbs, what Sculley calls Nature’s pruning—and it needed it.

Being limited in what I was able to do was ok…for a while. (I loved when Chris called and said, “You are right. I am so over this”…and we still had a ways to go.)

I have a clock that runs on batteries that plays a stanza of a different Christmas carol on each hour. It was really nice when there was no other sound in the house.

Candlelight provides such a pretty glow.

Things I am Learning

and Miscellaneous Observations

* Days without power, water and phone is a “Things I am Learning” extravaganza.

* Buckets of snow melt down to a disappointing amount.

* I can light the gas fireplace without fear now and it kicks out some real heat.

* The large hound puts off some good heat too.

* Having friendly neighbors solves most problems.

* I could survive a long time on the contents of my pantry and freezer.

* Watching snow melt is about as productive as watching paint dry.

* I am totally and completely addicted to electricity.

* Now I know why I own so many candles…and thank heavens I do!

* “Winter storm warning” will forever elicit a Pavlovian response in me of “Fill the buckets and pitchers” and “Go take a shower.”

* And I now know why to fill all those buckets!!

* This winter, I have been learning so many things it’s hard to keep track of them but three things I totally get now are Cabin Fever, Fleece and Wind Chill Factor.

* While preparing for a house guest recently, I came across something left by a previous guest: two packets of ketchup left on one of my “curio” shelves. Interesting.

Things I am Thankful For /

New Year’s Resolutions

Because I didn’t get a Holiday edition out, much less one for Thanksgiving, here's this stuff now.

Thankful for…

Friends and neighbors

Great restaurants in Asheville

Finding yoga again

Libraries (and books in general)

Freedom and independence

Naps

Travel opportunities

Bear sleeping so I can get this done

Resolve to…

Focus

Explore (Get out and about more)

Do what I can

Finish unfinished projects (quilting, organizing, painting etc)

Read some of the books on the bedside table

Make my travel bucket list

Be realistic (which means this list ends)

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Friedrich Nietzsche