Turn it down, Welan!

Here's hoping all you folks in the path of the blizzard are doing OK. One of my relatives in NE MO is reporting that she can only open her storm door about 4 inches because of all the snow. She says the last storm she can remember anything like this one was in the 70's. Power seems to be staying on for all the folks I'm hearing from, but then if their power was out I don't guess I'd be hearing from them. FB has been very active; I guess all the people staying home from work and school have plenty of time on their hands. A relative in MI says they've been giving helpful hints on how to survive the storm, like don't consume alcohol and then go shovel snow. Drunken snow angels, anyone?

CA is cool but sunny, mostly. Just barely getting down to freezing at night.

Well, everybody stay warm and keep your cool! We don't want to lose anybody!

It is cold as HE double toothpicks this morning in the Wilds today. Though it is going to be even colder tonight according to the forecast. I have the cats and dog propped up against the wood stove to thaw this morning. Not sure how long it will take. The stove is threatening to head South for the Winter. It says it was not made for this kind of weather. Hard to believe it was 67F just 3 days ago.

Have not lost electricity so far. So (knock on wood) hopefully it will make it through the next few frigid days. I hear that parts of Texas is having blackouts and poor Missouri is buried in snow up to their armpits.

Will not be doing much of anything with the Weather shutting me in the next few days. Hope everyone else is doing ok. Those poor folks in Queensland Australia are just about to be hit with a whopper of a cyclone. They sure do not deserve all the punishment. Hope it is less damage than predicted.

The evil penguin was just complaining on IRC tonight that someone threw snow in his router. I'd have thought it was snow proof.

We were on the northern side of the storm, got about 7 inches with 30 - 40 mph winds last night. Had to dig my way out to go to work and dig back in when I got home. The snow plow left a pile at the end of my drive about waist deep. Around here the flat ground and wind worked to an advantage of keeping the highways blown clear. Its still been a much milder winter than last year around here. I know some parts of southeast Iowa had snow drifts over 10 feet tall across roads, but they got a foot or more of snow.

Now I'm officially declaring it spring. Grilled my first steak of the year tonight. And oh man it was delicious.

I uncovered my BBQ on Sunday and had some fresh hamburgers though the temperate than plummeted on Monday night back to freezing.

However it is supposed to be back to the low 70's by Friday. So will have to start something marinading

Since the daffodils have stuck their heads up and the sandhill cranes have been flying overhead on their way north, I would agree with your Spring assessment. However, I look at the forecast and see snow predicted for all day Friday, Friday night and Saturday night with "moderate accumulation possible" and I'm not so sure. As for the grill, I use it all year round, so I never experience the joy of the "first steak of the year". But I do have the fun of watching the snow melt off the grill as it preheats. The triumph of Man over Nature!

I could grill year round, but I'm a bit of weany with the cold. Plus the steak might be cold before I get grill off and the steak back inside.