The Main Snow Event of 2026

It's only been about 4 days, but it seems like it's been forever that I have been stuck in the house with Rick.  We didn't get much snow, maybe about an inch or two initially and another inch or two later.  We first got ice, but not enough to break down any trees or power lines. 

Mainly what concerns us is the frigid cold temperatures in the single digits and below zero.  The windchill is definitely below zero at night and today the temperature feels like 7 degrees F. outside. 

Besides being very cold outside, it is slippery. It's too cold for the ice on the salted roads to melt and when it does melt just a tiny bit the roads become more slippery.  I'm not going outside just to take a chance on slipping on the ice and breaking a hip or something and neither is Rick.  Also I don't want to take a chance on damaging any of my vehicles. It's not worth it especially when we have everything we need right here at home and besides that, our State Governor told us all to stay home unless we absolutely have to get out to go to work or in an emergency. 

Years and years ago we installed a natural gas fireplace to help heat the house in the Winter, so that when the electricity went out for any reason we would have heat.  It has not disappointed us.  There have been many Winters when we lost electric power, but we stayed warm.  It beats using kerosene  or butane heaters that require you to keep enough fuel for the affected time.  If you run out of fuel then you have to get in your car and go buy more, and during a storm good luck with that.  I remember hauling family to surrounding cities in search of kerosene.  There was a time when we had a heating unit that was fueled by kerosene, but we had a large tank that fueled it, and when the tank was full it lasted for two Winter seasons.  In those days it was very economical to heat with it, but when that heater finally died we installed the natural gas heat.  We never had to spend a night or day cold, huddled under blankets with three layers of clothes on.  Natural gas is very dependable because it's underground.

I'm feeling much better now.  Almost a whole hour has passed by, and only 12 more hours til bedtime.   

Cabin Fever & Dealing with Arthritis

Today I just feel like getting out and going somewhere.  It might just be a little short trip down the road to buy another bottle of Aleve, or maybe to the liquor store to buy a fifth of dry gin for my raisins to soak in, or maybe just a short trip to my backyard.  But wherever I go, it will be outside and off the front porch swing.

I haven't been anywhere in a few days, but to my front porch, and I just have this overwhelming feeling to go somewhere.  By the time I take a shower I know that I will be worn out and I'll have to rest for a few minutes and maybe I'll lose the desire to go anywhere, but right now I just want to get away from the house.

People don't realize that it is so painful for me to walk even with Aleve to dull the pain some.  It has gotten extremely painful for me to even find a comfortable, pain free position to sleep in at night that I finally broke down and went to see a doctor.  I told the doctor that I wanted to be x-rayed to see what the problem is and she did as I asked, plus did a full blood workup on me.  The blood tests all came back fine, but my X-rays showed that I had severe arthritis of my left hip.  I have arthritis in other places, but not as severe as my hip.  Now that I know why I'm having so much pain, it is easier for me to deal with it.

I read up on the internet what I'm supposed to do with arthritis, and it's not to sit around, so I'm not going to do that.  I wasn't doing that anyway, but I was resting every other day, and now I'm not even going to do that.

My doctor is referring me to an orthopedic doctor for my arthritis, but they haven't called me about that appointment yet and I'm guessing it was because yesterday was Labor Day.  Maybe they will call today to let me know where I'm being referred to.  I'm excited about seeing an orthopedic doctor because I have so many questions about my back, or spine, and how it is doing.  I have degenerative disk disease and I want to know what is going on with that too, and if they can do anything about my pain, like surgery or some other form of treatment.  I don't want to be put on opioids for pain-relief either.  Maybe if I were 99 years old or something I might consent to those types of pain pills, but I'm too young yet to get hooked on those.

Well.....that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

It was ALL fun and I wouldn't change a thing

I might not be feeling well, but that doesn't stop me from day dreaming of taking another bike trip.

I've just been laying around not doing much of anything, so I decided to view some of our old vacation pictures since it's raining outside and I can't even sit out in the sun and feel bad there today.

There were too many nice pictures to post so I just chose these. The first one is at Yellowstone Nat'l Park in July. It was a hot July day and then the next morning we woke up to snow. Imagine riding our motorcycles in snow. One little secret I'll let you in on....I've never been to Yellowstone that it hasn't snowed or sleeted while I've been there and I've always been there in July or August.
This next picture is of my youngest grandson Brandon and we're in northern California hiking through giant ferns in a young redwood forest. Everything was so lush and beautiful there that year and the ground so soft that Brandon was walking around without his shoes. Everything was so pristine and it seemed like no one was in that forest but us or had been. I like it when people take nothing but pictures and leave nothing behind but footprints. That way everyone can see the beauty that nature has to offer us, if we're all just willing to take care of it.





This is the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. I think Oregon has one of the most beautiful shorelines of any ocean I've seen. It's very scenic, but it's also windy and this day it was very cold. I'd been here before when it was warm enough to swim and enjoy the water, but not on this day.







This is another beautiful place that always looked like a park to me. It's part of Shady Oaks, our family's own private park. This section is known as "Pony Trail" because it used to be part of the trail that I, myself personally blazed through the forest, with axe & shovel, so that my children could safely ride their pony's without getting hung up on those thorny nasty green vines. I had to get that in because sometimes children forget all the times that I spent doing things just for them and for their pleasure.

At that time I blazed a trail for my children that spanned 20 acres up hills and down hollers. I got very good at uprooting trees, shrubs & vines without much effort. At first I chopped the trees down and dug out the roots...it took a lot of time. Then I quickly learned that if I dug around the roots first I could topple the tree down by just pushing it back & forth, and at the same time uproot the root as the tree fell. Needless to say, I never went to the gym...I didn't have to since I also chopped up the tree for firewood and carried it back to our little cabin for our winter heat. That's just some of what I did for fun and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Now it's left for the next generation to take care of...not just Shady Oaks, but the whole world.

A sure cure for the winter blahs.....

Take a vacation

or
Take a long ride
(across the U.S.A.)

while listening
to your favorite music.

*

Picture #1 Tina, Allen, Parker, Dalton & Hana
Picture #2 Zac, Andi, Megan, Garry & Ramsey