Good morning.  I did not get here yesterday.  Got busy and then the day just got away from me.

Nothing exciting for me to talk about either, so I will just say that I am marking my place and  will check back later in the day.  I am anxious to hear from Larry today and hope he will be feeling lots better.

Hope everyone will have a nice day.

Joy

Winter has hit here with a vengeance and everything is white.  The wind and snow are blowing.  Tom had said he was going to drive this morning, but I see the lock on the front door was as it should be (dead bolt) and I hear noises occasionally in the lower level.  We are expected to get 8-12 inches before the afternoon.  Fortunately, Tom got groceries yesterday so we are set in that department.

MarsGal, it is interesting that you have some feral cats in your area.  I don't think I've ever seen a cat that I knew was feral but we have had cats meander in our yards; I just think they live around here.  Unless he escapes, Kendrick is an inside cat and is inside most of the time. 

Today is Norm's oldest great-granddaughter's birthday; she is three.  We don't see that family often as they live near Lansing.  I sent her a Jacquie Lawson card with one of the dogs racing around.

I'll be back later, especially if anything of interest happens. 

Mary Ann

Nothing of interest going on here.  Our temp is 59 and sunny.  Mary Ann, you can enjoy the beautiful snowfall while it is still clean and white.  Before I started working the kids and I loved getting snow because it meant no school and fun playing.  We only had a couple snow storms when we lived in Virginia but got plenty in Maryland.

I have a roast in the oven and it is starting to smell good.

Good Morning to MarsGal, Joy, Mary Ann and Jean:
Looks like you are all (except for Jean), enduring the Arctic Blast, or so they call it on The Weather Channel. It's hard for me to relate to temperatures that cold, and I know you all must be starting to feel kind of trapped and uncomfortable, inside for so many days.   

Joy - Because you live in Senior housing, I guess you have lots of things to do on the days that it's so cold?  You've mentioned playing cards?  I picture your building as being large, so maybe you can walk around the inside hallways, to stretch your legs a little? 

MarsGal - I'll be thinking about the feral cat colony, and do hope that someone is feeding them?  I feel so bad for abandoned dogs and cats when the weather is so freezing cold.

Mary Ann - I haven't looked at Grand Haven this morning, but will check it out when I finish this message.  I hope that Tom stays inside all day long, and doesn't decide to go out and drive for his Uber job?

Jean - Your temp is the same as ours, only it's cloudy here. It's supposed to go into the 60's again today and for most of the week.  Then a cold front is coming down from the Gulf of Alaska, that will bring snow to the Sierra and freezing rain here.  I can imagine the wonderful smell of your roast cooking in the oven, and wish I had one going here as well. Instead, I'll make a quick trip to Safeway, later this afternoon, and see if I can find anything ready to eat.

Jean, it's funny (and I have a long memory), but I don't ever remember school being cancelled because of the weather and I was in school from 1929 until 1941.  We often had a lot of snow, in fact, when I first went to school we'd walk up an alley behind our houses and the snow was up to my waist.  I must have been in kindergarten or 1st grade. Later the alley was absorbed into our lots and we walked up the street.  Grade school was a block away but high school was over a mile away.  I did get a ride to high school (Dad taught there) but I usually walked home. 

Marilyn, Tom did not go driving for Uber this morning, but he did go out for a while.  His only remark was about the temperature (13 degrees), not the driving, but I did see cars come in here driving as usual.  I think we have not been plowed yet but it can't be too bad.  We are close to the entrance to the complex.

I spent part of my morning looking at addresses in my former neighborhood.  It is alarming to see the potential selling prices because I feel their worth is nowhere near where the realtors have placed them.  When I look at the pictures of the neighborhood, it looks like a nice neighborhood and I'll agree to that.  It was a good area in which to grow up.  Of course, houses are now in the fields where we played.

Breakfast was late this morning, but I think I'll see what is available for lunch.  I can't believe I did this, but I seem to have ordered 1# each of sliced turkey and ham and we've got to eat a lot of it before it goes bad.  I usually get 1/4 pound!  So I think I'll settle for a sandwich of turkey meat.

Mary Ann

Good morning from the Interior! Same weather as yesterday,  but clear with no snow or rain. This winter has been unusual in its weather patterns, or perhaps this is a new type of normal?

Nothing to report, I reset yesterday and uploaded all of my emails to the cloud so I could delete them on the ground. So, now its time to get back to my lessons.

Hi Everyone. I am really late posting today as had to go early to have some blood drawn.  Scott take me and I was able to use the transport chair.  By the time he left this morning I was ready to lay down for a couple of hours.  I have decided until I get to feeling stronger I am going to use the small rollator we have here in the house as I am weak and want to avoid a fall.  Hopefully using this will be short term and I will soon begin to feel stronger although my doctor warned me this may be a slow process and I think she was right as have really seen no improvement and have no energy or stamina.  I will go again next Monday for a second blood draw and will see my cardiologist on the 7th.  It was nice to get out this morning as it was bright and sunny and in the low 40's.  Once again I am going to beg off from individual responses to posting but I have read all of them.  I feel for you all up north with the brutal weather hitting you all.

Mary Ann, FYI, Windows 7 or 10 are operating systems that make the computer itself work.  Firefox is a web browser that lets us work on the Internet.

It's good to see your report today, Larry.  All we want to know is that you are still able to navigate, no need to respond to everyone - although I know we've gotten used to your comments and welcome them.

In other words, I am using my browser only.  I'm happy that way.  I knew I was not using any of the features of Windows 7 or 10.

I think we're at our high today as it is approaching 4 pm and we have been at 14 degrees for much of the day. Tom went out for a while but came back saying "brr" and he went downstairs, probably to rest again.  I'm glad he realizes the need for rest. 

Mary Ann

Marilyn, I did watch Victoria, I wish it was two hours. I just start to understand it then it is over.  I did see the three brothers, they played it over. I thought it sad, and it must have been a let down to them in later years, after being so popular.

MaryAnn, I hope Tom is feeling better. My nephew has been gone 3 months now and I do miss him. as I do not get out that often. I guess I am being selfish

Gloria, I do believe Tom is feeling better but he's been home all day since about noon.  I can tell by the way the front door is locked that he intended to stay home - the dead bolt is either open or shut.  He hasn't said anything about teaching yet and that would be a good sign he is feeling better.  Thanks for mentioning it. 

Is there any indication when your nephew might get back to be with you? 

We've had snow on and off all day and our present temperature is 15 degrees, higher than it was earlier today.

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone.  It is already 10:45 and I am still trying to get my breakfast eaten.  I did sleep well last night except for a stint around midnight when I couldn't seem to get enough air in my lungs so got up and sat in my easy chair for an hour or so.  However, I went back to bed and had a good night sleep.  This morning I got up again very short of breath and have been moving very slowly ever since.  I will just read yesterday and today's posting so far but don't have the energy to make individual comments.

Larry, it is good to see a post from you, but continue to take it easy.  Thanks for posting.

We are in a very white world this morning and it shows no sign of quitting.  I noticed a strange thing on the Weather Channel.  Tomorrow our temperature is to be 0 all day and the temperature will work its way up to 40 degrees by Sunday with a 60% chance of rain that day.  I haven't seen the forecast on the WC yet today as I just have not looked at the right time.  It is beautiful out and I'm glad I can stay in. 

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, It will seem like a summer day to you, if the temperature rises to 40 degrees on Sunday!  Interesting, that our 60+ degree warm spell, will be ending this weekend, just as yours is starting.  They are predicting extremely cold weather with the possibility of snow, actually falling here in the valley.   It's happened in the past, but has been many years.(1970's I think?)  That would be a thrill for all California children, who have never seen it snow. We have snow sometimes on the mountains that surround Santa Clara Valley, but rare to have it actually falling here!

Hi Larry Don't worry about responding to our daily posts!  Just sit back and read S&F on your iPad when you feel like it, and enjoy watching whatever sports are on TV. If you check in every day, to tell us how you're doing, that will be enough.

The Weather Channel has changed things a bit for us, but not much.  Now we have a forecast of +2 tomorrow and -1 at night, going up to 39 on Saturday, 32 Sunday.  It isn't much of a change, but a little.  They also predict one inch of snow and I think we've already had more than that, maybe five inches.  Even Tom is staying in but that is because he has no place to go.  The cat is content to stay inside!

I've been doing some badly needed sorting.  This room has been a mess because I'd just put anything down where there was room.  It's hardly noticeable, but I know!

Mary Ann

Mary Ann. I bet that snow scene is pretty.  Good that Tom had gotten your groceries and you don't have to worry about that.  When we lived in Maryland, we had a snow storm while I was at work.  On the way home the roads were terrible and the cars bumper to bumper.  I pulled into a little shopping center and went into the cafe.  I am not used to driving in the snow.  The little cafe was crowded with others who had also pulled into the lot.  A pregnant woman started talking to me and asked where I lived.  She lived close by my neighborhood.  She said she was used to driving in the snow but didn't want to be by herself in her condition.  This was before cell phones.  I called my husband from the pay phone to pick me up at the local super market close to our house.  This saved him a trip to come and get me.  The young woman (can't even remember her name and never saw her again) drove me to Giant's super market which was close to her house and my husband was waiting for me at the store.  The young woman was close to her due date and I was sure glad she got home without any problems.

Larry, hope you soon see some improvement in your health.

Marilyne and Joy, we enjoyed our roast beef yesterday cooked the old fashioned way—-in the oven.😁. Today it is going to be roast beef sandwiches.

We had some rain last night and this morning, and it is a dreary day.  It is 49 degrees and supposed to go down to 32 overnight.

Jean, those snow storms are funny and unpredictable.  We are getting lake effect snow here now, the cold wind blows across the open water of Lake Michigan and because of the temperature, we have lake effect.  We get more snow on the west side of the state than they do on the east side.  However, one year, the tables turned.  A co-worker, whose parents lived in Pittsburgh, was in Pittsburgh and I think it was over Thanksgiving.  They had snow in that area but she and her husband started out and had a lot of snow as they traveled along.  They got to Detroit and I think they had to stop for a while because the roads were impassable.  Eventually they could start up again and they drove on I-96 which runs between Detroit and Grand Rapids.  The closer to GR they got, the less snow and by the time they got to Ionia MI, there was no snow, nor was there any in our area.  Usually, those things would have been reversed.

It is so pretty out!

Mary Ann

Good morning from a no longer rainy but very snowy Interior where four inches dropped overnight. It is 22 degrees now but next week, Canada is gifting us with a deep freeze return to minus 30 and below.

I know Canada is approximately 455 miles from us, (Yukon Territories); but I went to Google for exact mileage and for once they had no answer. The program kept trying to match Fairbanks with Whitehorse or Vancouver rather than a straight Western slot to the closest border. Google also stated that Russia was 55 miles from Alaska. That's wrong as Big Diomede Island which belongs to Russia and Little Diomede Island which is part of Alaska are only 2.5 miles apart.

Larry, just take it easy and rest, we're not going anywhere and want you to get better and that wi take time.

Back to class...

Patricia, we're getting the deep freeze now and tomorrow but it will warm up by the weekend.  It is 10 degrees here now and to go to -2 tomorrow night.  I know that is nothing compared to -30 but it's cold anyway.  I just looked at the library across the road and there is not one car there.  Tom told me it is closed. 

I just turned on the local TV channel to see what is open in the area.  Ottawa County was showing for a long time; it seems like everything is closed there.  They're nearer Lake Michigan than we are.  I know if I were younger and still working, I would have tried to leave for work this morning and I remember working in storms of all kind; the last one was an ice storm in 1976.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, from CNN

"About 250 million people -- 77% of the continental US population -- face below-freezing temperatures this week. But this isn't just a typical January cold snap. These are some of the coldest temperatures we've seen in a generation, caused by the polar vortex paying us a visit. If you're 25 or younger, "you've never felt this cold before," CNN meteorologist Tom Sater said. In the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, temps will plunge to 20-40 degrees below zero. Wind chills will be even worse: 35-60 below (here's how to protect yourself,   https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/28/weather/wind-chill-explainer-wxc-trnd/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=4070111835-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_29_08_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-4070111835-87090417). There will be blizzard conditions in some places, too. Snow is even forecast for Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. More than 3,400 flights have been canceled. The weather has already killed two people, in Minnesota and Illinois."

Patricia, the Weather Channel only mentions 60 million people but when I consider the amount of land covered, I'll believe CNN.  The Weather Channel people are well covered and they don't stay outside very long.

There was a multi-car accident on I-196 between Hudsonville and Zeeland.  I don't know that there were no injuries, but there were a lot of cars involved.   That is the road we take to James and Alicia's in Holland.  I've seen pictures of the accident a few times on the WC.

Visibility is almost zero at Lake Michigan at Grand Haven.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, I agree. We are expecting to plunge back into the minus thirties and forties as well, coming to us from western Canada.

Speaking of Canada and current evidence of climate change,

"We know there is a dramatic change occurring and will continue to occur, but I don't know that we were expecting to find evidence that we're now seeing landscapes and temperatures similar to that of the last interglacial period," Pendleton said.

The changes on Baffin Island are undeniable even to the naked eye, Pendleton said. The research team took samples on the island in 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Year to year, Pendleton said, the retreat of the ice was obvious. The researchers would use GPS to pinpoint their previous sampling point, which had once been at the edge of the ice. At some places, Pendleton said, they'd find themselves the length of a football field from the new edge of the ice.

"To be able to stand there and see that change is — I don't have a good word for it," Pendleton said. "It's kind of breathtaking, in a way."

https://www.livescience.com/64605-arctic-glaciers-melt-hidden-landscape.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190128-ls

Good morning.  It is a pretty sunny morning, but still very cold.

There is still a lot of snow on the ground and trees.  Our county schools are closed today.

I did not go back and read the previous messages, so, just want to wish you all a good day.  Try to stay warm and cozy.

I did make a big pot of soup yesterday and it sure tasted good lasted night. I have a big container for my son to pick up this evening.

I need to try to get my checking account somewhat balanced today.  Have been putting it off way too long. That is not like me at all.  I used to sit up all night looking for 2 cents. When I was in the hospital, I got way behind. So, I kind of feel like it is going to be a very frustrating day.

Nothing else exciting in my little corner of the world.

Hope everyone will have  a great day.

Joy

The indoor/outdoor thermometer in this room hovers from 1.2 to 1.0 to -0.3 all within a few seconds.  I did stand at the front door to take a couple of pictures of our Winter Wonderland but I took pictures of my deck through the slider glass.  I can't see that the windows made any difference and the flash did not go off.  We have a bright day, but not really sunny.  WOOD-TV shows the temp as -4 degrees.  We will have no mail today because of the cold.  I'll bet it is or was hard on the mail carriers on foot the last couple of days and I'm glad for them.  We are on a motorized route.

Mary Ann

Larry, I read your message in Soda Shoppe and it is always good to hear from you.  I think eventually the rest will show to have been beneficial, regardless of the length of time it is taking. 

We are at 2.0 and 1.9 degrees, both plusses.  Tom is out and will pick up groceries around noon.  He picked up some a couple of days ago, but I checked some we had forgotten and others we usually order even if we're not out of them. 

Tom is feeling and sounding much better than he had during the weekend.

Mary Ann

Good Morning everyone:  I was in earlier, and posted a message in another folder, and started a message here, but got distracted.  AJ has a camera set up on the back deck, facing out into the yard.  It is fun to watch the wild critters who appear in our yard overnight.  Last night we left a crumbled up cookie within camera view, to see which animal would be attracted to it. 

First came a skunk at around 10:30, who polished off the entire cookie.  He was followed an hour later by a possum, who apparently could still smell the cookie, but alas, it was gone.  Around midnight, two foxes arrived, and went right to where the cookie had been. The skunk returned a couple of times, and finally, the last to arrive in the early morning hours, were a couple of raccoons.  The rabbits didn't appear at all, and the squirrels are only busy during daylight hours. 

Mary Ann and Joy - when I read your messages this morning abut the weather, I couldn't help remembering the old adage from the US Postal Service . . . "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".  I guess those days are gone forever! ha ha  Also, I have read that the reason the schools close so often now in inclement weather, is because of the Teacher's Unions. Used to be that schools were open five days a week, regardless of weather.  Now, the unions control everything, including pay!

"Climate skeptics have done this for years, i.e. point to cold winter weather as proof that global warming is a hoax.
It is not 'Where You Live Warming,' it is Global Warming"

Marshall Shepherd, UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program

"People also tend to confuse what is happening where they live as an indication of what is happening globally," says Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia and a former president of the American Meteorological Society.
"It is not 'Where You Live Warming,' it is 'Global Warming,'" Shepherd told CNN.
While portions of the US might be mired in a deep freeze, many other parts of the planet are seeing record-breaking heat waves (like Australia last week).
When you average these out over the planet, the hotter temps are tipping the scale. That's why the hottest 5 years on record for our planet have all occurred since 2014."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/29/weather/global-warming-cold-weather-explainer-wxc-trnd/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=126ad4df15-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_30_08_56&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-126ad4df15-87090417

Good morning from a plus 14 Interior, down from yesterday's high of plus 22. We will have highs of minus four or minus three the week's remainder and then head back into the pluses over the weekend. However, February is generally our coldest month so we shall see.  I called my sister in Coeur d' Alene but she says they're not cold, Idaho is too far west.

Hopefully everyone stays warm and safe if you're in the vortex!

As I have said before, I do not recall any days of missed school because of the weather - that is, authorities did not call off school because of the weather.  The thing I remember most is several of the neighborhood kids riding to high school with us and the car not having a heater and Dad saying, "nobody breathe".  Several kids did steam up the insides of the windows, especially the windshield.

The thermometer in this room for outside reads 4.1 degrees.  Tom got home with the groceries and he's here to stay.  We are having pot roast for supper and I hope he makes it in the Instant Pot.  I think the main reason we are having the pot roast is that we have had it for a while and I bought another one today.  I see it was on sale $8+ down from $11+.  The one we're having tonight was also on sale - 2 for the price of 1.  I like those kinds of deals. 

I just got up from my afternoon nap.  I didn't have any company today.

Looking at the Grand Haven site, I can just barely see the two red lighthouses and the smaller one on the north pier is invisible.  It is snowing at the Soo but not at Duluth.

Mary Ann

When I was in school through the sixties, it didn't close for the weather. Then in the nineties, a man hit and killed a small child in minus sixty. When it gets colder than forty below, the car exhausts and other elements freeze, becoming visible and causing what is called ice fog.

 It gets denser the colder it gets. And he never saw the small child. Afterward, he was so traumatized and shaken, he had counseling and never drove again even when he wasn't at fault. After that, the school district began closing classes whenever it hit a temperature cold enough to cause a dense ice fog.

I know that in the foothills there are problems with icy passes and at times a school bus cannot make it through their full route. But that is unusual and needs a lot of ice such as after an ice storm.

Patricia, I doubt it has ever gotten cold enough here to create "ice fog" but I have heard of it in recent years.  I know kids of yore had to go to school in bad conditions and I think there were schools near enough them, although I've heard about students who had to walk 10 miles to school, uphill both ways.  Consolidating schools has made conditions more difficult and certainly different. 

At 9:31 pm it is -5 degrees here.  We had no mail today and our trash pickup probably will be delayed a day because there was none today.  Our day is Friday so will be on Saturday instead.

Mary Ann