WOO HOO! Looks like we’re going to get out of this arctic freeze in just a couple more days. 40 degrees forecast for Saturday! WHEE!
Monday was the coldest day here in 31 years, according to Seattle news stations. It’s been in the low 20’s for days now, and will continue this cold until Saturday, when we can welcome in 2022 with 40 degrees during the day.
It’s so cold that very little additional snow is expected between now and then.
Our street hasn’t been plowed or de-iced but we’re only four blocks from main arterials that are being kept clear. Our road is well-traveled, so the snow is compacted onto the ice below, and driving on it isn’t a problem.
Our driveway doesn’t have enough snow on it to keep us from coming and going, but my rig is the only one working right now because during a whiteout on the first day of this saga, Jackie drove to the closest store for some groceries (a mile away) and on the way back she hit a snowed-over, invisible piece of someone else’s vehicle that had been left lying in the roadway and the impact ripped out the oil pan (or something) beneath her vehicle, so it’s parked in our garage (atop two large bags of scattered kitty litter to sop up the residue) until her mechanic can tow it to his shop on January 3rd to find out what the extent of the damage is and get her underway again. So we’re sharing my vehicle in the meantime, which is no big deal because neither of us are going anywhere (unless it’s an emergency) between now and Saturday, unless it’s just to the store.
BYE BYE CHRISTMAS DECOR
Yesterday afternoon and this morning we put away Jackie’s Christmas stuff, which was quite the undertaking. She decks her home like a Macy’s store every year. She has at least six huge plastic bins, lots of boxes, and two ornament boxes (at least). She stores them under the elevated platform that holds our washer and dryer and lifts us into my living room from the garage, and it’s a large area, but not quite large enough for everything she has. The tree, wreath and plywood table that she puts her Christmas villages on goes out into the shed.
I bring in the various bins and boxes, she fills them, and then we haul them out. It takes her two days to set up everything and a day and a half to put it all away again. But Christmas is her favorite event of the year, and it keeps her happy during the darkest days of winter (until two weeks after the Winter Solstice) so it works wonders for her. That’s good because she suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and the lights, sights and sounds of Christmas merriment lifts her spirits. (Her SAD isn’t as bad now as it was before she retired, luckily, because she can kick back and sleep whenever she feels like it now, instead of saving it all for nighttime.)
IN OTHER NEWS…
Tomorrow night is Test #4 (and perhaps the last test) before my podcast EVER NEW debuts on January 15th 2022 at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. If you’d like to get in on it LIVE, please use this URL to do so. If you watch via my Facebook page you won’t be able to interact in real time and I may not see your hellos, likes or comments until after the show airs. A live podcast isn’t very useful or terribly fun without a live audience to interact with. Bring your questions to me about ANYTHING. That can help get the ball rolling.
My goats are doing fine in their straw-filled hidey hole during this cold snap. The trough de-icer is working as planned, so their water hasn’t frozen at all. Some birds and other critters are using it as a water source, too. (Don’t worry. I have it rigged so that if anybody falls in, they have a way to get out. There are NO casualties in MY water troughs!)
