We’ve had a long winter, and we have very deep snow. In addition, in working from home for many hours each week we’ve burned more wood than we normally do. So we’ve run out of the best of it. The wood shed is empty, and next year’s stash was buried under mountains of snow. Fortunately, I covered some split stuff that was piled outside the shed with a tarp, and I was able to crawl in under a snow cave and pull some of that out. Our heated garage dries this wood out in a couple weeks, so as long as I plan ahead, we’re good.
Stormageddon
I remember when I first learned about global warming (many years ago, now), that a main prediction was that we would see more frequent weather extremes. Talk about predictions coming true with a bang. These days the news seems to perpetually include unprecedented weather events around the world. The periodic unseasonably warm spell—at these latitudes—is okay from time to time, but I know I’d prefer not to live through the big stuff. As if we had a choice…
Tamales
Rose and I enjoy making tamales over the holidays. Some of our fondest memories of traveling in Mexico in December are having tamales, fruit, and hot chocolate for breakfast or lunch. By making large batches of tamales and freezing single-meal packs, we’re able to enjoy tamales like this on occasional weekends throughout the year.
Extended Holiday Plumbing
How often have we heard horror stories about something going unexpectedly wrong with the plumbing over the holidays and causing a catastrophic loss of seasonal joy? Ours was self inflicted.
Gravity Check on Aisle Stupid!
Rose and I were making dinner the other night when I did something careless and got a quick gravity check. It’s nice to know you can count on something, I thought as I cleaned the floor. In fact, I got a chuckle, thinking that gravity checks were one of the main reasons the TV program America’s Funniest Videos (AFV) exists. I hadn’t seen that show in a long time but had recently watched an episode and was reminded of just how ubiquitous, misjudged, and funny gravity can be.
This wasn’t my only recent encounter with excessively exuberant gravity. I had another lesson hammered home this fall that kept me from hunting.