Thank Goodness For Global Warming!

     Well, it seems that more than a year has passed since I last wrote. Anyway, a whole new year has arrived, so I guess that proves it. I was beginning to enjoy the excellent weather we were havin'. Then all at once, winter pounced. Everywhere I look, the only color I see is white. Now, I have nuthin' against the color white, but there are some other shades that I enjoy, as well. Ah, well; I guess winter has to have her day, too.

     I've always loved this time of year. I've lived from Washington to Florida an' Maine to California an' everywhere in-between. I've seen every possible mood that weather can offer, within the United States, an' I still love winter best. 'Course, with the onset of what some of our fine leaders have deemed as Global Warming, I may not get to enjoy too many more of these beautiful white winters. According to the Powers That Be, we could be in the process of warming ourselves right into oblivion. That is, if we don't all freeze to death, first.

     Rumor has it that no one took the time to tell Ol' Mother Earth that she's warming up. I guess no one felt that she needed to be informed. I s'pose she'll figure it out in her own time, eh? In the meantime, I hear from friends in California that snow an' rain have sent lotsa' folks --- nowhere. Yup! That's what I said; nowhere. Between the rain an' snow, I hear tell that some people are virtually living on the freeways. At least, that's what I call it when people park their vehicles on the freeway for hours an' hours at a time. It just doesn't make any sense to get in your car an' sit still, otherwise; do you think? I sure don't.

     Folks aren't doin' much better on the east coast, either. With record snowfall filling highways an' blocking passages from point A to point B, all over the country, I really think it would be in the best interest of everyone concerned to contact Mother Nature. It's jus' possible that she might be able to work somethin' out with the Powers That Be so's we could all relax an' be a little more comfortable.

     I love winter, but even I think things are goin' a little haywire. If I din't know any better, I'd say that Mother Nature is trying to prove a point. Maybe she thinks that since man wasn't there to cause all the other fluctuations in weather for the past ever-how-many thousands of years, then man should keep his opinions to himself an' let her go about doing what she has been doing for all those thousands of years, without man's input. At least, that's what I'd be saying if I were Mother Nature. All I can say is thank goodness for Global Warming or we might all freeze to death!

     Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

Ironing Board Dinner

     There are many situations that could cause a person to think outside the box an' try another method for accomplishing what you set out to do.  Such was the case, recently, when we had invited friends to our home for an afternoon meal.  How were we to know that the weather was gonna' take such a drastic change in attitude?

     Picture it;  on Sunday we invited two young men to our home for dinner on Wednesday.   They arrived in their normal Sunday attire, suits an' ties.  Sunday had been a reasonably cool an' pleasant day, but by Wedsnesday, the weather had developed an ATTITUDE.  Nuthin' about the day could really be described as pleasant or cool.  In fact, I was wearing short sleeves an' gauchos, yet the heat was almost unbearable.  How those dedicated young men were able to survive, wearing suit coats, is beyond my comprehension.  Since we don't have air conditioning downstairs, you can imagine how much those boys were sufferin'.

     That's when I got my brilliant idea; let's eat in my office!  See, my good hubby-buddy installed a window a/c about a month ago because it was so hot.  With a walk-through closet to my office (I think my office was originally a baby's nursery, so it's quite small, but it works), we leave the closet open an' close the doors to the bedroom where the a/c is installed an' my office so's we can capture the cool.  Those two rooms are basically our survival in this horrible heat.

     Well, we all trumped up the stairs to my office to take advantage of a couple of degrees of cool.  Sadly, my office is mostly bookshelves an' a very large table, which I use to work on; too crowded for more than one to sit down.  Hmmmm.  What to do?  What to do?

     Aha!  Let's move the meal into the bedroom!  So, we did.  An, guess what convenient piece of furniture we keep set up in our bedroom?  You're right; the ironing board!  I grabbed an oversized bath towel an' spread it over the top.  Then we proceeded to seat ourselves around the newly-created table an' enjoy a very pleasant an' cool dinner.

    I keep wonderin' what those young men thought about that situation.  They certainly looked more comfortable with the cool air surrounding us.  An' think of the story they'll be able to tell their future grandies.

     Until the next time, keep a hug on.

 ~ Yaya

That's One Amazing Log!

     Its Spring!  Well, almost, anyway.  The snow is almost gone and I can see dirt.  Dirt, dirt, dirt.  I never thought I'd be so happy to see dirt.  We are s'posed to have rain tonight, turning to snow.  I'm thrilled.  NOT!  Ah, well.  Maybe this is the last-ditch effort of Mother Nature for this year's winter blast, ya' think?  I surely hope so.  I love winter, but I am waaaaaaaaay tired of struggling to get out of my driveway.

     Wanna' hear somethin' funny?  We have a woodburning stove.  We've been very thankful for it, since this is how we've kept warm, this winter.  Well, its still kinda' chilly, so of course, we're still burning wood.  Running dangerously low, so I really hope we will get to stop soon.  I mean, we will get to stop burning wood on accounta' we're about to run out.  But I mean, I hope the weather cooperates so we can stop burning wood 'cause we wanna' and not because we hafta', ya' know?

     Anyway, the night before last we put the largest piece of wood we could into the stove.  Its one of those old-fashioned cookstoves with the little shelf.  To load the wood, we lift two little round parts and a center piece, all of which keep the fire from letting smoke into the room.  So we loaded this piece of wood, about a foot and a half long and a little bigger around than a large coffee can.  Since there were coals left-over from the previous sticks of wood, it wasn't necessary to go through the steps of starting a fire under the new wood... we thought.

     Naturally, we did add a little bit of extra paper to the coals, just to be sure.  After we were sure the fire was going good, we went upstairs; each to our own office to write.  That's what we enjoy doing, writing.  In about an hour, we heard the sound of treats and drinks, calling our names.  Back downstairs and, as long as we were there, anyway, we checked the stove to see if more wood was needed.  More wood was NOT necessary because that one log was just setting there.  NOT burning.

     Now, I could stretch this story out for forty years and forty nights, giving you every little detail during my long and ridiculous night-fight with the woodstove.  I don't wanna' do that, though, on accounta' you might get bored and just up and leave.  So I'm gonna' give you the shorter version.

     Eight times, throughout the night, I poked and prodded, stabbed and fed that woodstove with everything I could think of to get that fire going.  I am not one to use ugly names, but I can tell you, I was sorely tempted to give that stove and/or that log a whole new vocabulary.  When my good hubby-buddy woke up, it was his turn to play at keeping the stove lit.

     So, here's the short version (finally?).  Thirty-one hours ago, we started burning that log.  It burned so slowly (yes, it actually burned the whole night and day) that there are still, now, embers from that same log.  I have never seen a log burn that slowly.  If you ask me, that's something of a miracle.  After all, we're running out of wood and tonight its gonna' snow.  Wouldn't you say that's a miracle?  Stay warm and 'til the next time, keep a hug on.

Yaya