The Truth about Robins

And you thought spring was just around the corner. Those  robins are as deceptive as an "As Seen on TV" product! The following proves it:

"Robins: Harbingers of Spring?"

Signs of Spring. Kind of.

The snow is still everywhere , but has decidedly retreated. Whenever we pass a bit of turf, we yell, "Grass!" The walls of plowing that gave our driveway a tunnel effect have now flattened to almost nothing. You still can't find the entrances to parking lots easily, landmarks are obscured, and crossing a mounded median half-blinded still takes guts, but it's manageable.
The retreating snow, gray and dingy, now reveals the war wounds the landscape has received. Lawns bordering neighborhood streets are maimed by the gouges of snowplows. Whole sections of curb are reduced to chunks of gravel. Mailposts everywhere are bent like matchsticks. Mailboxes themselves are reattached with whatever is at hand: rope, duct tape, Christmas lights. One enterprising neighbor created a whole new delivery system with a plastic snaplid shoebox stuck to a broomstick. The ugly side of a snowfall is made known.
But for us, there was indeed a welcome result of the melt-off. While walking the dog past MeiWei's friend's house, a round, blue, bucket-like shape was rearing. Looking closer, I saw the Ultimate Sign of Spring: The Boot!!!
Yes, the boot that Meiwei stepped right out of at the height of some blizzard or other two weeks before had emerged, sodden and encrusted but still
more beautiful than a crocus. Surely spring must be on its way!

No Manliness, PLEASE

Father R is probably sitting in the 6-12" zone, but may be as far north as the 1-2 FEET zone. Not to mention hurricane-force winds, downed trees and closed highways. The challenge now is convincing him he does not have to prove his manhood by attempting to come home in this.
Please, Father R, wherever you are, enjoy the hotel hot tub and STAY PUT!!!!!

AccuWeather.com - Weather News Snow Map for the Northeast Blizzard or "Snowicane"

Snow-icane

So there's this monstrous storm building up in Texas and heading for the Northeast. It seems so strange that it's not going to be taking us down for a beating, but attacking someone else instead. I almost feel cheated on. Now I know winter has driven us crazy.
Nonetheless, we are being included because Father R is at a conference in NJ where they are predicted to get 6-12". Natch he drove the less-war-worthy sedan when he could've taken on Ma Nature in his 4-wheel drive pickup tank. It may not have looked very professional at the meetings, but he'd have had the last laugh.
Here's the map:

Snow-verload, part 2

Back at home, we were prepared but facing new challenges. The lights went out temporarily and we thanked God and Father R that we had a generator. We kept in frequent contact with my parents an hour away. Father R had brought in supplies while in their neck on Monday so we knew they were supplied.
    I tried to maintain some routine in MeiWei's life. We couldn't afford to keep taking snow days along with the school system (who will be going until July it seems). While she worked on a map of--no kidding--Hawaii, she giggled about getting wet. "I knew it couldn't be rain because it's snowing!"
   I looked up and found drops coming from the ceiling.  Father R was concerned, but was busy with the plow.  When all was quiet and I was making lunch, I was alerted to a tapping sound nearby. Now the drips were coming from the middle of the room.   Snow piling up on the balcony over head was blocked and melting into the house!  First one, then two, then three pots were lined up on the floor. Father R came in and immediately headed for a ladder and a shovel. I tried to squelch the idea of going up on a ladder in a blizzard, but he  wouldn't be stopped. Thankfully, he got down the offending blockage  without harm and the leaking stopped.
    The doors on all sides began to be blocked and finding a way for the dog to relieve himself presented a new challenge. Dad R had shoveled a path early on but it had filled up. And opening the slider onto the deck brought in snow-filled gusts.
   The front door, protected in part by the porch roof, provided the only means of "escape" for the dog who still had to wade around ankle deep for a spot and ended up choosing the doormat.
     We expected the snow and wind to let up by nightfall, but it maintained the same pace. The radar showed us to be on the southern edge of a rotating ball of clouds spinning in place over the Mid-Atlantic.  We had played the board games we bought in prep for more cabin fever, had dinner, talked and read weather news until there was nothing left to talk or read about.
   Then Dad got the idea.
    He "double-dog dared" MeiWei to walk all the way out to the "potty patch" that he had just dug in the yard for the dog---in bare feet.   For a piece of chocolate.  And she agreed if he would do it too.  And he did. So Tai and I laughed and grabbed cameras and watched their Polar Bear Stroll.
    Then Tai was dared and she did it. And then MeiWei went out three more times. And I didn't and was accused of being a "wooss" and I agreed to that.
    And it snowed for another hour after everyone went to bed.
    And Baltimore has a new all-time, since 1884, record of total yearly snowfall of 74.5 inches. And it's only mid-February.

Snow-verload, part 1

The rumors became fact. Accuweather.com proved worthy of its name. First eight inches, no ten-twelve inches...no, 18-20...oh, we'll just have to see what we end up with but it'll be really bad, ok?
Act I was as you would expect from a first act, rather fun and exciting, a nice introduction to the play.
Act II is when the plot turns sour. And so did this storm.

Winter Storm Warnings on Tuesday turned to Blizzard Warnings on Wednesday until 7 pm. Those were later extended to 10 pm. Snowfall estimates were ever-climbing and drift estimates were added as winds drove the snow sideways for hours.

The night before I stumbled over to the We-Is market to get more food to last another week (the amount of time we expected to be house-bound) plus, more importantly, some wine. (Had enough of the must-have bread and toilet paper.) I walked the aisles in a stress-induced daze. An enterprising person had shoved a "Snowplower for Hire" sign under the counter's glasstop.

DH got home early and again went into lock-down mode with wood, wood pellets, shovels, salt, and snowblower. It was becoming a routine that was not welcome.

The snow began, grudgingly it seemed, around mid-afternoon. By nightfall a few inches had collected. (Any other year, that would have been noteworthy alone, possibly cancelling school.)

Father Robin suggested that it was going to miss us; this was all we'd get.
But by bedtime, it picked up and snowed in earnest all the rest of the night. By morning there was around 6-8 inches. Then the storm truly began.
Snow came heavily all morning. At noon the wind also picked up, driving the snow sideways for most of the afternoon. White-outs were frequent.
At home, the girls and the dog went out to take video. Father R fired up Ol' Bess the Blower and headed out for another crawl up and down the driveway, harvesting the same "crop" he had spent hours on two days earlier. He found where the dog had relieved himself and blew it to smithereens over a bank.

Unlike the miraculous road conditions the county maintained in Act I, this time, the only thing going by were plows. And not often. By late in the day, even they had been called off the roads because of hazardous conditions.

You know it's getting bad when the plows get stuck.

Snow My Gosh

It began Friday, the 5th. Nobody could really imagine how it would end.


It was predicted to be a "ten-loafer". In this area, where an inch of snow can send the cities into paroxysms of panic, people's anxiety can be measured by how many loaves of bread they will stock up on. (Packages of toilet paper can be substituted.) Three loaves means school will be closed for a day. At five-loaves,a foot of snow and so on. People in the Mid-Atlantic must eat a lot of french toast before shoveling.
This storm prediction emptied shelves. Bread, toilet paper, coffee, booze, you name it. Whatever your priority.
At our house, I had placed a sizable order from Peapod home delivery. My DH had stocked wood in the garage and filled the snowblower's gas tank. We were ready for it. And it came. And we saw. And it conquered. Twenty-two inches piled up in our yard.

The birds went through five pounds of seed in 24 hours. The dog couldn't see over the swath cut by the snowblower. The cat was thrown outside in the morning by well-meaning MeiWei and crept under the deck where he remained throughout the storm. We worried he would be buried alive. (He surfaced at dusk.)

Tai escorted MeiWei to her friend's house to sleepover. The snow was knee deep and took them twenty minutes to walk to the next house a couple acres away.
While playing there, Mei got her boot stuck in a snowbank, pulled out her foot and ran inside in her sock. Upon returning, no one could find the boot. The plow had been through since, completing the burial. We were some of the two dozen exhausted customers at Wally World the next day--one of the few places even open--where we searched frantically for replacements.

Then we began hearing rumors of another storm coming.

This Week's Menu (2/8-2/14)

Monday
Leftover BBQ from Super Bowl, baked beans, corn

Tuesday Soup Night(Pioneer Girls, Bill late)
Kansas City Steak Soup

Wednesday Crock-Pot Night
Vietnamese Roasted Chicken supposed to taste like Pho, which Tai has been raving about to us. Rice or buckwheat noodles, steamed broccoli

Going to the Lake for President's Weekend!!
Thursday (Late arrival)
Spaghetti and Meatballs (pre-made frozen), crusty bread, salad.

Friday (Cook it Slow and Play All Day)
Crockpot Ham 'n' Cola , sweet potatoes also in crock, sugar snap peas (frozen)

Saturday
Bill's Choice or eat at club

Sunday
Ham and Asparagus Fettucine , glazed carrots (frozen), salad

Our Little Snowstorm So Far

Yes, I'm up at this hour ( 4 am). I was shocked awake at how much had fallen since 10 pm. At bedtime I had recorded about 6 inches. Not considered much anymore as our area has received so many snowstorms of late.


The literal wakeup call is easily 2 feet. (I can tell by the almost covered birdbath) Confirmed by http://www.noaa.gov/:

>>....SELECTED STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL IN INCHES FROM 700 AM EST THU FEB

04 THROUGH 400 AM EST SAT FEB 06...:

..MARYLAND...

ELLICOTT CITY 22.5 << (We dubiously are honored with the highest amounts by far for the BAlt/ Wash area---though maybe the other reporters simply don't want to get out of bed.)



And then I went to http://www.noaa.gov/ and found this: Scroll to bottom.

>>THE SURFACE LOW ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST IS FORECAST TO

CONTINUE TO DEEPEN THIS MORNING WHILE ITS FORWARD SPEED SLOWS.

THIS LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE ONLY SLOWLY EAST NORTHEASTWARD

SATURDAY OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST AND THEN BEGIN TO ACCELERATE

EASTWARD SATURDAY EVENING INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC. HEAVY SNOWS

WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING OVER LARGE PORTIONS OF THE MID

ATLANTIC...WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL TO

NORTHERN MARYLAND...EASTWARD ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE DELMARVA

PENINSULA AND INTO COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY. ADDITIONAL


SNOW TOTALS OF A FOOT ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MID


ATLANTIC...BRINGING STORM TOTALS TO 18-36 INCHES. SNOW ACROSS THE

OHIO VALLEY REGION WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH THIS MORNING WITH ONLY A

FEW ADDITIONAL INCHES EXPECTED.<<

Well, well.

Keeping the Feathered Friends Happy

   I've been diligently feeding the birds this winter what with all the snow that makes their foraging so difficult. Even if that means braving snow and ice and temps in the teens to fill the feeders. I love to sit in my sunroom and watch their happy antics as they vie for their spaces at the feeders. It cheers up an otherwise drab day.
   I keep several feeders going at the same time: a tube feeder for sunflower, two tubes for thistle, and two larger vertical mesh-sided feeders that hold five and ten pounds respectively. Plus some suet feeders. The only seed I use is black oil sunflower. Anything else is a waste of money IMHO.

    Disgusted with the amount of mess that blackoil in the hull makes by the spring (shovel fulls under the feeders), I switched some feeders to hulless. It's amazing the increased velocity that the birds will down that seed! And how they will show preference to it! But it makes sense. Eating hullesss saves them vital calories that are burned pecking the meat out of seeds in the shell.

    But the voracious avians are costing me over $25 a week in hulless, so I'm afraid they are going to have to put up with more shelling just to slow things down.  All things in moderation, guys.

   I also learned from my friendly neighborhood bird store that I shouldn't be complacent about providing water when there is snow all around. Naturally I figured the little guys were consuming plenty of fluids with all that precip attached to their feed. But the shopkeeper explained that it took additional calories to warm up that sunflower slushee, which would have been better spent on building up fat. So last year I added a high-quality bird bath heater. It cost more but the cheap ones usually die after one season.

    Another food source that I am giving up on is Niger thistle which is purported to attract finches. It does, true. But upon observation, the gold

and housefinches I have seek out the sunflower first. Even when the feeders are hung side-by-side. Couple that with the nightmare that sprouting thistle produces in my garden come summer---spine-encrusted plants that will put holes in your gloves---there seems no reason to purchase that costly stuff.

   So here comes another storm of, once again, blizzard proportions, and I have looked well to the ways of my (bird) household: everthing well-stocked outside and plenty more in the pantry. Bring on the storm. I'll be in the sunroom watching the show.

  

"One Inch" of Snow

This is what "one inch" of snow looks like.
Boy, I wish I could get a job as a weatherman.
You're only right 50% of the time, and you still get paid

The view

How "cotton" is grown around here.

  When all else fails, take a bath.

ANOTHER Snowstorm!!!!!

This is sooooo UN-Baltimore/Washington. This is the fourth storm we've had since the first on Dec. 5. It was reported on The Weather Channel last night (before this one even started) that DC was already, like, 298% above normal in snowfall amounts.
And now we're getting another one. Which typically was forecasted to be an inch.
As of 11 PM , it has been snowing for 5 hours and there is easily 3inches on the ground. It is supposed to snow all night. That will be a BIG "inch."
If that wasn't enough, there will be more this weekend.
Probably only an "inch".