Cold Weather and Catching Up
Beau December 16th, 2008
Let it snow! The landscape is beautiful after a light patch of snowy weather came through the area. Not enough for a snowman, but just enough to appreciate even though the roads are a mess. It’s early morning, and a travel show is playing in the background on the television. Looks like Australia… one day I’d like to spend the holidays in the land of the kangaroo. It looks really warm…
Not warm here though, with temperatures in the teens and the high well below freezing. We’re going through firewood like crazy. The birds appreciate the feeders in this weather, and are gathered all around the house.
Did you see the full moon last Friday? It was beautiful, and big! It rose slowly beyond the trees, and seemed to grow larger and larger for the next hour or two. It was one of those magical, clear nights. Seems I’ve taken to the moon in recent months… either that or we’ve just had clear weather on bright moonlit nights. So in case you missed it, here it is again.
I saw a Bald Eagle circling slowly overhead last week too. We don’t see them often, but they usually arrive in Missouri this time of year on the way to our rivers and lakes. Here they can take refuge in open water areas where they can still find food. Most of Missouri’s rivers and lakes remain free of ice through winter, and if they do freeze it only lasts for a week or two.
Closer to home our little kitty is growing up fast. And she still loves to play with the yellow lab- who also loves to play with her. She claws and chews and pulls and smacks him with her paws… and he doesn’t even seem to notice it. I think he secretly enjoys the attention, and they’ve become buddies. He doesn’t even mind sharing his bone. Isn’t she a neat cat?Her name is Spotty… she has six large black spots on her white coat (I wanted to call her Domino!).
Speaking of attention… something really got mine the other day. Have you ever heard of “Floam”? It’s a kid’s toy, supposedly akin to Playdough. Ever used it? I think it was invented by someone with a warped sense of humor. It comes in very attractive, colorful packages. We’ve had a few lying around for a while. The young boy was home sick last week, the day we spent cleaning his room. He decided to play with a tub of pink Floam. Good idea I thought, something to keep him busy. I was wrong… very wrong.
I mean this stuff is downright nasty. Could be that it doesn’t age very well. But once it’s on your (supposedly wet) hands, it’s there for a long, long time. The boy finally said, “Yuck! This stuff is too sticky… it won’t make anything!” Whoever thought goop and recycled styrofoam balls would make a good toy? You need water to wash it off your hands, but who’s going to wash styrofoam down the sink? I can’t imagine a worse clog. So I carefully picked his fingers clean with a wet paper towel, and then he kept trying to wash them clean. After which we collected all the Floam tubs and out they went, right into the trash. I honestly don’t know how the company makes any money from the stuff. Maybe there’s a secret to it, but if Floam is around in a few years I’ll be very surprised. But if you have a different experience, I’d love to hear about it. Ah well, when Santa comes there will be other toys to play with.
Changing the subject again, I had to share a picture of the sun on the pond. So different from today’s snowfall. It was late afternoon last week as the ice was melting, and the picture came out with a neat blaze from the bright sunlight. Not a very good picture really, but it was just so bright and… well I would say warm, but it wasn’t. It just looked warm!
And by the way, are you still around Ron? Have a feeling you’re moving the site to a new home. Time to catch up on a few more indoor projects this week. I hope everyone is staying warm!