Oh No He Di'int!

Andy recently took our winter vs. summer debate to the blogosphere and managed to knock both winter and the Great Lakes as he did it.

As I sweat just sitting here in the 80 degrees Fahrenheit with 87% humidity that is still going on at midnight (which, sadly, does feel *slightly* better than the 84 degrees Fahrenheit with 90% humidity that was midnight around this time last week), I feel the need to defend winter's honor.

So let me tell you a bit about why winter is the far superior season:

+there are no bugs

+there are no ticks

+there is no outdoor mold or pollen

+dry cold winter air is crisp and refreshing and easy to breathe. humid hot summer air is suffocating

+water freezes over and snow covers the ground, making everything traversable with the right equipment

+you CAN still grow food in winter in these things called greenhouses, and when the things are done growing, mother nature provides you a free all-natural icebox so that the things you have grown don't spoil. In summer you've got to eat fast or do things that generate even more heat in order to preserve your food

+if you are cold you can always pile on another layer of clothes or blankets, put another log on the fire, or move around. conversely, in the summer you can be sitting absolutely still in front of a fan in your birthday suit, and still be uncomfortably hot with not much more you can do to make the situation better (outside of immersing yourself in cold water or searching out someplace with air conditioning)

+a worst-case scenario in winter is hypothermia, where you feel cold but then you feel warm and just fall asleep. a worst-case scenario in summer is heat exhaustion/dehydration, which involves a lot of headaches, cramping, and puking, among other things. I will take my chances with hypothermia over heat exhaustion any day of the week

+the sun still shines in the winter, so you can soak up plenty of vitamin D during all the good times and social events like going skiing, sledding, or ice skating with your friends

I could keep going, but I don't think that's necessary.
Clearly, I win this argument. :)

I will concede Andy three points. Summer is good for the long days, for swimming uppadalake, and (naturally) for baseball. These are the three things that make summer bearable to me. That, and knowing that the State Fair comes at the end of it. But that's really about it.

I will also concede that much of my defense of winter is particular to Upper Midwestern winter, not Mid-Atlantic winter, so he lacks the life experience to truly understand what I'm saying. Just like I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand the whole "the Great Lakes are like oceans" thing because his main experience of the Great Lakes is Lake Michigan as seen from downtown Chicago.

Having been to the oceans (Atlantic and Pacific, not to mention the Baltic Sea) and to the Great Lakes, I maintain the Great Lakes are like the ocean, only better because they are freshwater.

And having lived through several summers and winters in both the Mid-Atlantic and the Upper Midwest, I maintain that winter is the superior season, hands down, both places.

That's my side of this debate, and I'm sticking to it! :)

How to Have Fun When It's F-F-F-Freakin Cold

Dinner at Solera.

Followed by Nellie McKay and the Aristocrats at the dakota.

Happy Birthday to the fabulous Eileen Campbell-Reed, whose natal day was Tuesday and provided the impetus for this night on the town.

Happy Birthday to the marvelous Mary Hess, whose natal day was actually today (I'm still counting this as Friday, I haven't gone to bed yet).

And props to the person I passed on my way home who was out riding a bike, at midnight, when it is 4 degrees and actively snowing. You are either really stupid or really hard core. Normally I'd think you were a candidate for the Darwin awards, but I'm feeling benevolent after a good concert, so I'm gonna go with hard core and tip my Turtle Fur hat to you, good sir or madame (hard to tell the difference these days when everybody is bundled up the wazoo).

Now, for your viewing enjoyment, a little Nellie McKay:

Now is the Winter of Hermes Discontent

I've missed wintry winters the last 5 years, so I don't really mind the snow and the cold.

But my poor car is another story. Hermes has resorted to nonviolent tactics to protest our return to the motherland. The rebellion has been slow but steadily progressive.

It started in late November when one of the rear door locks froze up.

Then driving through all that snow in December caused one of the wheel wells to develop a permanent ice dam that would not chip away for anything.

That finally melted during the "thaw" the week after Christmas. But then just before I left for Pennsylvania one of the headlights started dying. It's not dead yet, but it's pretty darn dim.

Now tonight, I noticed a raspy noise coming out of the vents - something is going on with the fan for the heating system.

Guess it's time to call the shop. . .

BTW, MN DOT - what's your deal today? It wasn't snowing all that hard or fast tonight but the roads were awful and the freeway was a free-for-all because no one could see where the freaking lanes were. Epic fail.

Because There's a Below

Breen's mom Cindy has this great story about a friend of hers who moved to Minnesota 30-odd years ago.

The friend moved here from California or some other such generally warm and sunny place. She moved in the middle of the summer.

One day she finally asked Cindy, "Why do they always say 'above' on the weather report?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cindy, having grown up here and never noticed this before.

"You know, when they give the weather on the news, they say 'It will be 75 above today.' Why don't they just say 'It will be 75 today,' why do they always add that 'above'?"

"Because there's a below."


'tis the season. Happy New Year!

Hey Look It's Snowing

Again.


Somehow I missed the memo that we were supposed to get another 4-8 inches today.


I'm also beginning to think I missed the memo about the White Witch re-taking control of Narnia. . .


Tonight's football game just gets more and more interesting. At least 4-8 inches of snow ought to cushion the Vikings' falls onto the hard tundra that is currently TCF Bank field.


I have also decided that everybody's annoying and dangerous driving habits are at least 10 times more annoying and 100 times more dangerous when there is snow on the road. I've got news for you, people: four wheel drive does not make you immune to the laws of physics nor does it exempt you from the idiot tax.

So to everybody who talks on their cell phone while they drive, or follows too close, or drives in snow without headlights on, or weaves in and out of traffic, or goes too fast for the conditions, or changes lanes without use of a blinker, or cuts across multiple lanes of traffic upon entering a roadway, or runs a red light, or can't be bothered to clear all the snow off their car before they start driving around: knock it off!

The Great Blizzard of '10 Part Deux

Thankfully I don't have to worry about moving Hermes until this thing ends and plow guy comes back.

But some neighbors were parked on a snow emergency route. They needed to move their car ASAP lest the city impound it.

Fool that I am, I was walking around outside trying to get some pictures of the storm when I came across them.

So I ran home to get my shovel and came back to help.


Every car we successfully got off the emergency route and onto a side street felt like a Rebel victory on Hoth!


Who needs a gym membership when you live in Minnesota? :)

The Great Blizzard of '10

Best line so far in this morning's blizzard coverage comes from Jason Derusha at WCCO. A sedan was trying to turn a corner just outside their downtown studio and got stuck in a ridge of snow in the intersection, thus blocking part of the road and making it even harder for other traffic to negotiate the intersection. Jason's comment went something like this:

Be realistic, people. If you see a ridge of snow on the street and you're driving an Escort, it's not gonna happen. Basically it comes down to, if you're out driving around in this stuff, don't be an idiot.


The next best line comes from the traffic guy, who has made a running joke of throwing shots from the Lowry tunnel into the mix of traffic cam views, as he says "Hey look, I found a place it's not snowing!"


Apparently one gets a little punchy in the 4th straight hour of covering a blizzard. :)


Choral Girl, I know I talked a good game yesterday about blizzards not being able to stop InVocation, but I'm starting to reconsider that position. . .

Learning the Hard Way

Apparently, I misunderstood the snow removal policy where I live.

In my defense, up to this point plow guy's behavior has not been consistent with the policy as it was explained to me, thus contributing to my confusion about when, exactly, plow guy comes to clear things out (and when, consequently, our vehicles need to be out of his way).

Long story short: this past weekend, Hermes the Honda was still sitting in its parking space when plow guy came to clear out the parking stalls. This irritated plow guy to the point that he conducted an experiment in behavior modification, using what psychologists would refer to as "negative reinforcement."

In other words, the bugger plowed me in. The three sides of Hermes he had access to were piled with knee-deep snow (as high as the wheel wells, which to Hermes is the equivalent of hip-deep snow). The thickest pile was blocking the only direction I could possibly go to get out of the parking stall.

It took an hour and a half of non-stop shoveling to dig Hermes out. It had to be non-stop because InVocation had a 5 pm call time in Hastings, and I was due to meet fellow singers for a carpool to Hastings at 4. I discovered plow guy's experiment at 2.

Believe me when I say that by the time I was done, my parking stall was as clear (if not more clear) as if plow guy had plowed it himself.

Believe me when I say that the lesson has been learned, the behavior has been modified, Hermes will never be in plow guy's way again!

The Politics of Snow

I have two thoughts on this fine February morning. . .

The first is: PA weathermen are full of crap. Most of the time they get everybody freaking out about "major snowstorms" that turn out to leave an inch of snow on the ground, if that. This time, they totally downplayed this Nor'easter, saying it's going to hit hard in the VA/DC/MD area south of us, but then head out to sea before it came this far north - Lewisburg was supposed to get "a dusting - maybe up to 2 inches."


My car had 5 inches of snow on it this morning.


Ah well, at least I finally got to use my new shovel. :)


My second thought, on a related note: It is days like today that I really wish we had assigned parking. I just spent 50 minutes digging Hermes the Honda out - and I don't mean just brushing all the snow off, I mean clearing a 2-3 foot perimeter all the way around the car. I did it because I am Minnesotan and that's what we do - when snow falls we don't sit on our butts and wait for it to melt, we dig ourselves out. I also did it because I don't want to be wading through 5 inches of snow tomorrow when I am dressed up for church. I also did it because right now the snow is relatively light and easy to move - the more it gets compacted from people driving or walking on it, the heavier it will get, the icier it will get, the more treacherous it will be to walk on, and the more labor intensive it will be to move - so I struck while the snow was still cold, if you will. But I have someplace I have to be later today, and I know as soon as I leave, one of my neighbors is going to go pull into the spot I so nicely cleaned out. If we had assigned parking, they couldn't do that. . .hmm, maybe I can rig up something to block the space off, and leave a note saying they are welcome to borrow my shovel and dig out their own darn spot.

Oh the weather outside was frightful. . .

Actually, the weather could have been worse. But whoever was in charge of plowing today deserves a good kick in the rump. The church is out in the country, but directly on a main backroad that leads right into town, to the hospital, and is somewhat well-traveled as a result. When I left to go to the office just before 10 am, with at least an inch of snow on the ground, this road had not been plowed at all. I was doing my best to see and stay within the tracks of those who had already been on the road this morning, praying that no one would be coming in the opposite direction on the blind curves, and basically did a rolling stop to get across the incline at the unregulated intersection of death.

While I was at the office, a plow came by in the same direction I had taken to get to the church. When I left for a meeting at 11:30 am, now with at least 2 inches of snow on the ground - which was actively being covered with a fresh batch of sleet - the side of the road heading into town had still not been plowed at all. I made it down the church hill alright, but started spinning my wheels 3/4 of the way up the next hill. I tried applying gas more slowly - no deal. I tried backing up a little and getting my momentum going from a differing spot. Got stuck in the same place. After more dinking around, a woman from the house at the top of the hill came out to talk to me and told me of a back way to the back way that would take me around this hill but still get me into town - all I had to do was back my car down the hill to catch the other road!

I thanked her, and did just as she instructed. By the time I got around the hill and back onto the road into town (mostly on roads that had also not been plowed), the plow had finally come by in the direction I was heading, and had sanded the road to boot. This made the trip in infinitely easier - but by now it was nearly noon. Nearly noon before a fairly significant road was plowed for the first time!

At least I figured things would be better once I got to Hwy 15 - which is the major 4 lane North-South state highway in this part of the state. Yeah, not so much - it looked like it had been passed by once (on the inner lanes it was debatable whether even that happened).

I mean, I realize PA doesn't have the breadth of equipment and manpower that MN has to deal with such storms, but today was freaking ridiculous. Because they do get enough snow here that they should have a good gameplan for how to handle it, and this was by no means the worst or most snow we've had since I've lived here, so I really don't understand why the plowing situation was so horrendous today.

Alright, that's enough from scrooge for one night. Here's hoping the next round (due to hit Sunday) goes better.