Post 664: It’s a blizzard! But not here.

The East Coast is enduring one of those “Storm of the Century” events, though apparently the worst of it shifted east of where the worst of it was predicted to fall. Even then, they got and are getting amounts of snow that exceed what I’ve seen here this year. It is the only thing on the news.

While the East Coast is shut down, however, we in mid-continent are enjoying a curiously springlike forecast.

January 27, 2015 at 4:21 AM.

January 27, 2015 at 4:21 AM.

Yes, the predicted high here today is 65°F/18.3.°C! It reached that yesterday, when the predicted high was a little lower. Maybe today will be the same.

Then there is the current temperature, at 4:21 AM, of 40.5°F/4.7C. This is April or May weather!

Most of our snow from or last snowstorm is melted, yet New York City (1625 miles/2615 km east of me) and New England are in shutdown because of a blizzard.

It is a lovely old fashioned yellow climbing rose with a soft, floral scent. I can't wait for it to bloom again this spring!

It is a lovely old fashioned yellow climbing rose with a soft, floral scent. I can’t wait till it blooms again!

What to make of this? Woo hoo! I’m not on the East Coast today! Good luck to those who are. Keep warm and don’t be stupid dealing with the vicissitudes of power outages, nasty roads, snow removal, and plans made before the storm came through.

If I’ve learned anything about winter survival skills it is this: virtually nothing is important enough to risk your life going out into a severe storm.

Post 630: Andy accuses Doug of indolence. What does he know?

Yeah, January 1st’s coming up, fast! Andy knows of Tom and Doug’s plan to post a blog about blogs they both enjoy, one for each of the von Kapherr cats. (We’re talking 23 now!)

Andy’s watched Doug closely since Tom made the proposal, and he knows Doug: How many times has he failed to keep up with the litter box “accumulations”, and poor Andy had to step delicately around “it”? Even one time was too much! Doug’s a regular lazybones!

"Have you begun work on the blog on blogs yet? Time's running out!"

“Have you begun work on the blog on blogs yet? Time’s running out!”

Andy is a cruel taskmaster when he sets his mind to it. Of the two brothers, he’s the serious one. Dougy (not to be confused with Doug, who’s the human) is the goofy one, ready to play in a second. Yeah, when Doug named the boys, he really got it right: Andy after the apostle and saint Andrew; Dougy after himself, the world’s biggest (and fattest!) procrastinator!

"Why do I have to ride you like a horse to get the simple things done? Why!?"

“Why do I have to ride you like a horse to get the simple things done? Why!?” Andy demands an answer.

Doug clenched his teeth and thought dangerously, “If I had to do it again, I’d name that dang Andy after Marcel Marceau. Maybe then he’d keep his mouth shut!” 

“OK, Andy, I’ll get right on it,” Doug said in a meek tone of compliance. Andy doesn’t say much, but when he speaks, he has the “Deadly Claws of Instant Compliance, NOW!” to back him up. Better safe than sorry!

Doug got right to work on the blog on blogs. Andy is watching and he’s not amused.