I Bet I’m in Trouble!

Posted on February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Hi everyone. I want to thank so many of you who reached out to be sure I was ok. That was so nice. I’m sorry I’ve been neglectful.

So here’s the reason’s or excuses.

#1. New England has been snowed in!

We have had over 100 inches of snow this season and 68 inches of that fell in February. We had snow 20 days out of 28 and it set a record for 2nd coldest month since they started keeping records.

#2. My wolf photo shoot was canceled because we had 2 blizzards that weekend and even if they would have held the shoot I wasn’t driving all that way in a blizzard.

#3. I came down with a winter cold. 🙁 As a result I lost my mind. I just couldn’t get my thoughts in order to put them down on the page.

And the #4 reason I haven’t been posting….I gave myself a birthday present.

And it was a very bad thing. You see I am addicted to reading. When I have to go buy a book or order one from Amazon there are down times while I wait but because we’ve had so much bad weather I didn’t want to be stuck in the house without reading material so I gave myself a Kindle for my birthday. Now I have a book calling my name all the time! I really have to get a grip on myself!

I do still have some more Las Vegas stories for you and a Disney vacation is right around the corner so I’ll try to get my act together and gets some new posts up for you.

I’ll need to update you on the kitties too. Rocky and Buddy are always good for some stories.

So I apologize for being MIA for so long and I promise I’ll start applying myself again. Many thanks to all of you for sticking around and waiting for me.

Dusty

Bright and Cold

Posted on January 11, 2015January 11, 2015 by Dusty Roads

It was clear and sunny and bright but the cold of the last few days continued to linger. At least the overcast and snow was over. There was still a little snow on the ground but it is January in the northeast so what else can I expect.

I’m heading off to join the Audubon Society on a Snowy Owl Prowl at Duxbury Beach. The 8 am excursion was booked but they decided to have a 2nd trip at 12 and I managed to get a spot on that one.

It was time to break out the winter camo. Time to see if it was as warm as the sales pitch said. I skipped the pants because I’d be in and out of a warm van and I figured it might be too much. Instead I pulled on a pair of “leggings” and then the size too big jeans that I bought to keep the waistband from irritating my shingles rash. No one would ever know I was wearing 2 pairs of pants and I figured the extra layer would be enough to break the wind for the little time we would be out of the van.

I packed up my sunglasses, a snack to prevent low blood sugar, a water bottle and the big camera lens in case I had a chance to use it. Then, looking like an extra from Wild West Alaska I headed out.

Arriving at Duxbury Beach I could see that the sea ice had frozen. Since it’s sea water with a lot of salt it isn’t really solid but it looks like regular ice from the shore. While I waited for the Audubon crew I hoped out to snap a picture of the Powder Point Bridge.

Immediately the wind hit me. But after a second I realized that the cold wind was only hitting my face. The rest of me was comfortably warm. That was all it took for me to fully accept my “camo” winter parka. (This is my “concentrating” look as I try to take a “Selfie”)

Shortly after that the Audubon Vans arrived . There were 2 of them and probably 9 of us so we were very comfortable, not crowded at all. I got the front seat with our driver and guide, Dave.

Sally drove the 2nd van and checked us in. Once she was sure we were all present and accounted for we were off.

Baby Its Cold Out There

Posted on January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 by Dusty Roads

The latest update in my Facebook feed on Beau is that he is still alive and still in captivity. More sharing and social media rabble-rousing is planned. I think the authorities in Tennessee could take a tip from the movie Frozen and “Let it go, Let it go, Let it go”. A terrible abuse of power.

But on another note, what does everyone think of this cold weather. Friends in Florida tell me it’s cold there too. Is anyone warm?

Last night the winds were howling and making a real racket when I went to bed. I lower the heat at bedtime down to around 60. I can’t sleep if its too warm and since I’m in a condo with units above, below and on each side, throw in the heated common areas and I’m usually pretty toasty warm. I knew it was cold when I woke up this morning and heard the furnace running.

I remember growing up in the Adirondacks and hearing my folks comment on the cold. I remember plenty of below zero days back then but as a kid stuffed in a bulky snow suit I didn’t really care.

If the cold froze the tops of the snow to ice we’d just take cardboard boxes and use them as sleds. Sometimes we had to crawl back up the hill because the ice crust was so slippery. Of course wiping out on that kind of snow was guaranteed to leave a blood trail! That crust could cut like glass!

I don’t know how cold it got last night but there were lots of reports of frozen gas lines and dead batteries in cars and school buses. I did not even put my nose out there! I can work from home so I was not about to brave the cold even if I do have a snugly warm snowsuit just like when I was a kid. I’ll be trying that out for the first time this weekend.

FedEx was working in the cold. At about 10 am I had a knock on my door. The man standing there looked like Nanook of the North. He had a mustache and a hooded jacket with fur around it.

I think I just stared. I don’t know who let him inside the building but that poor man looked frozen. He didn’t say a word, just handed me my package and left. I think he just wanted to get the day over with so he could get out of the cold. His brief stop at my door probably didn’t give him much time to get warm before he had to go right back outside.

So, how’s the cold where you are and how are you coping? Am I just a wimp?

Raining and cold

Posted on October 11, 2014October 11, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I was hoping the weatherman would be wrong but he hit the nail on the head today. Rainy and cold. I might have to break down and put the heat on. I wanted to wait until I had the furnace cleaned. Of course I’ve been procrastinating. Just too many other things grabbing my attention.

The car has really been rattling and the tires are wearing unevenly. It’s 13 years old and has 180000 miles on it. If I need a ton of work is it worth it? If I were to get a new car , what would I want? I have no clue so tomorrow its going into the shop for a thorough going over. When that’s done I should have a good idea of what I need to invest if I’m going to keep it.

It’s still raining so I went to the mall for a haircut. Over an hour wait without an appointment. Lets see what else I can do to pass the day.

A stop at the used book shop to pick up some good reads. Then a visit to my friendly T-Mobile store for a quick education on the new wireless calling. Oh Look, a mattress store is right next door. I need a new mattress but I have no idea what kind. My old one is 20 years old and saggy and lumpy.

1 hour later…..

I have a new mattress being delivered on Wednesday. They will take the old one away. I really didn’t intend to buy a mattress today but it’s been on my mind. I think I tried every mattress in the store from inner springs to memory foam. I ended up with a pretty traditional one, a beauty rest. It had one extra feature that I hope will really work. It has a gel core? Or something like that, that is supposed to keep you cool at night. If that works I will really like that.

$Natural-Latex-Mattresses$

Last stop , groceries. Always a challenge. I settled on a pot roast. I’ll toss it in the crock pot tomorrow morning and that will give me meals for the week.

The rain has finally stopped but its still cold. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow but not much warmer. I think I’ll take a look at those books. I got a couple of Brad Meltzer’s and a couple of Iris Johansen’s. That should keep me busy.