"It's Pitch White Outside!"

Our solar lights are wearing little Cossack hats

Indeed, in the immortal words of The Peanuts' Linus Van Pelt, "It's pitch white outside!" While last week's winter storm didn't bring much snow, it left a two-inch-thick sheet of ice all over everything, and almost none of it has melted. Currently, at just past noon, we've got about six inches of the white stuff on top of the ice, and it's still coming down hard. I reckon we're gonna be holed up here until the temperatures rise sometime next week.

 

Yesterday afternoon, before the snowfall began in earnest, Brugger and I went out in her car (mine has been garage-bound since the ice storm and probably will be for a good many more days) to run some necessary errands and have a couple of glasses of wine at nearby Hamlet Kitchen. It was nice to have a brief spell out and about before we're completely snowbound—and, to our surprise—our friend Yvonne popped in and had some wine with us. Back home, we again had to park Brugger's car at the bottom of the driveway, since it was still a solid sheet of ice, and unfortunately, on the way up to the house, I took a spill and banged up one knee pretty good. I'm fine, if a little ornery; mostly, I'm glad our neighbors weren't out to witness the brief comedy sketch (though they might have heard some colorful descriptors of the situation wafting skyward).

 

As with last week's storm, I very much hope we don't lose power, as there won't be any quick fixes under these conditions. The snow itself is just fine powder, and there are no cars out there—at least not nearby—likely to knock out any power poles. I'm X'ing all my appendages.

 

Till laters.

Solar light starbursts last night before the snow covered them over. Below, some photos
Brugger took of the white outdoors and a couple of pics after dark

Not Exactly a Snowpocalypse

Saturday night ice accumulating on the paved surfaces

The weather reports for the weekend were all pretty dire, and some places did get hit hard with snow, ice, and wind. What we got was mostly sleet and light snow, which, now that it's over with, has formed a dangerously hard and slippery sheet of ice. At this point, at least, most of the roads are clear enough to travel. Our driveway, however, is a different story. At least an inch of ice has rendered it completely unusable. Last night, I managed to get the trash can down to the street so the trash would get picked up this morning. This morning, though, I could not get the can back up the driveway. Every time I set foot on the ice, I'd slide down the incline back toward the street. Fortunately, I'd thought to bring my hiking stick with a sharp tip, so using it, I was finally able to get over the worst of the hump and back to the house. I'd actually feared for a bit there that I literally couldn't make it up the sheet of ice. 

 

Happily, Brugger made it safely home this afternoon from her (extra-long) weekend retreat in Asheville, NC. She didn't encounter any problems on the road until she arrived in town—and at our driveway. She managed to get the car just a few feet in, enough so that it's not hanging out on the street. I wouldn't go leaning on it, though, else it might go sliding.

 

During Ms. B.'s absence, the cats and I managed pretty well. I got in a lot of writing, a few movies, some strenuous exercise, and an argument on Facebook that prompted me to boot someone of my acquaintance from our Greensboro days. This was a person I'd known in the flesh for several years, and despite the fact she's a pretty hardcore conservative, we generally managed to get along. However, on more than one occasion, I would put considerable thought into a diplomatic and 100% factual response to some of her blathering, but then things would go south from there. So, yesterday, after just such a post of mine, she goes and puts up one of the most blatantly false articles in existence about the "lies of the left" regarding the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pritti. I confess I really lost my temper in a PM to her, and I'm not proud of that; however, after the horrific events of the past couple of weeks, and the worse-than-egregious lies from the "administration" (i.e., these people were domestic terrorists and intended to harm agents involved in an official operation), I am over and done with those blatant lies and those who either swallow or propagate them. At the end of the day, I am better off without her half-brained "reasoning" to rile me, and she's better off without having to suffer my temper.

C'est la vie.

 

Anyway, I am intensely thankful that the big storm wasn't the nightmare it originally portended. More than anything, though, I am glad that Ms. B. is back home. Hopefully, tomorrow, some of that ice will start melting.

Sunday morning white stuff — a wee soupçon

A sneaky mountain lion looking to steal my breakfast

The Winter Storm Aftermath, Sort Of

For the past few days, the local forecast called for a potentially serious winter storm starting yesterday, and a winter storm we indeed got. Thankfully, for most of us in the area, it stopped short of being terribly serious. The severest issue in our area was vehicle accidents last night as the roads became slippery, and I've heard reports of a handful of power outages. We've kept ours, at least so far; around here, it's typical to weather the worst of a storm without problem, but when it's all over with, then the power goes out. The temperature dropped well below freezing early last night, but it's on the rise this morning, and right now, the snow and ice have become mostly slush.

I went out for my usual morning ramble and took a few pics around Lake Lanier, just down the street.