The Bright Side

 

No flooded horse stalls this morning!

That discovery easily tops the list of ways to look at the bright side of this dreary, soggy day. 

It's also warm out there.  

When it's warm, rain--even heavy rain--doesn't feel so bad. 

The sessions of snow blowing by Bill and Annie over the past few days made a huge difference in mobility through rain-soaked soft snow.

Happily, so far, this ever-changing marathon of winter weather elements hasn't been quite as bad as anticipated.

Probably the worst few hours came on Saturday when each of us went on our respective errands. 

Wind-shield wipers were of no value, unless we could find a safe place to park on the road, got out and broke off their ice coating.

Five minutes later, visibility would deteriorate as the ice built up and wind shields were totally covered with freezing rain, ice or whatever was coming at them. 

And, the white-outs on the country road with wet, icy snow pulling the cars different directions.  Bill told of stopping once to clean off the wipers and discovering he was on the wrong side of the road.

My three-mile trip home from my sisters' seemed like it lasted an eternity as I would see headlights, carefully pull over, stop and let the vehicles go past before moving on.  

We all had our similar war stories to tell on that segment of snowma/icema-geddon 2022. 

Some more good news in the midst of all this weather action came yesterday when I decided to check in on Willie, Debbie, Russ, Joe and Kenny, who were on their way home from Boise via HWY 95.

Sixty degrees!  

Yep, it was 60 degrees in Riggins, Idaho, and so nice outside they let Joe spend some time at the river. 

One of my brothers went to Florida for Christmas, most likely with plans of soaking up sun and warmth. My sister learned from him that it was cold down there.  

Maybe Riggins is the place to go when you want to escape the elements. 

Anyway, it is definitely hard to find beauty in all this.  Even Foster, who has gone blind, was looking for some beauty yesterday as he sat on the back of the couch surveying the outside world. 

I saw a squirrel at the bird feeder.  It was kinda cute.

And, inside, Bridie spent a lot of time at her favorite pastime of charming the heck out of whatever sucker is sitting next to her, looking into those loving brown eyes and willing to pet and pet and pet and pet and pet some more.

Bridie's kinda demanding that way. 

The other exciting activity yesterday happened several times during the day. 

What sounded like a slow-moving, level 8.4 earthquake was really tons of snow sliding from the roof and crashing into the last pile of snow that had left the roof a few days before. 

We also have giant piles blocking portions of our lane, and, maybe, if we should be so lucky, the rain will wash most of them away. 

In the all-good-things-must-end department, Annie is heading back to Seattle today. 

Albeit comparatively quiet, it's been an enjoyable time having her home. Last night, we slouched on the couches and watched the first segments of 1923 with Helen Mieren and Harrison Ford. 

Lots to process in this series depicting the history of John Dutton's (Yellowstone) ancestors. The story moves in several directions, all of which are compelling and, at times, very disturbing.

 

I was surprised to find that a good share of the story occurs in Africa. 

It's been fun to do a bit of TV bingeing, especially when there's quality programming. 

The entertainment helps one forget about all the drama going on outside. 

And, so, we move along, all agreeing that this Christmas has certainly been like no other but still fun and very memorable. 

Happy Tuesday. 

💖😏☂☁