Held Over

The ice remained, today, and will likely be here until Friday or Saturday.  We're expecting record cold tonight, and again tomorrow, with the forecast saying ten degrees tonight and 7 tomorrow night, with highs remaining below freezing.

I am not sorry.

I feel for those still without power, and I feel for those who have to be out in this chill, but it's so very lovely, and I am in sore need of loveliness.

Sprout and I were out running errands today.  It was necessary or I would have kept us home baking cookies.  I'm glad we had to go out.

While much of Redneck Central has largely thawed, for some reason our little corner of it is still glazed, with the added sugaring of a few snow flurries.  As I drove, the sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds, and from time to time light...glorious light...burst forth from the frozen landscape.

Opals, diamonds, rainbow moonstones, shattered light bouncing from every surface, every fractured piece of ice a prism.  I chanced to glance to one side at a grove of small trees and I wept.  There is no camera can do it justice, and certainly I couldn't.  We haven't words in our language to describe it.  A beauty transcendent.

All day the trees have gone from cloudy-day steel and iron to bright sun light and flashing icy fire, and all day I have been caught in the transformation that will disappear with the next warm day or rainfall.

Mandala-like, it is impermanent...held over for one more day.

Wonderland.

There was a storm yesterday.  Rain and cold became ice and cold, until everything that did not move was coated in a layer of chill light refraction.

How lovely the world seems, coated in ice.  The sun is dancing in and out of the clouds, great grey sky-veils floating on to new destination.  Our windows are high from the ground, looking out them we are in among the tree middles and tops, and the view is ethereal right now.  We can see the icicles dripping, lengthening, and finally falling to earth.

Crash!

Crunch!

Splash!!

Thud!

Ice falls in sheets and chunks, smacks the ground with a bounce before settling.  Considering the number of trees around the Casa, we have gotten of with little damage to our piece of the world - a few branches could not hold out for the melt, one tree suffered a greater loss - one of its larger branches is now in the yard instead of two stories up.  Had we fireplace or stove, next year would need no wood cut for all the smaller branches in the woods.  So far, our Popcorn Tree has limbs bowed, tips sweeping the ground, but is unbroken.

As the sun shines in fits and starts, twigs shoot sparks of light in every direction, almost but not quite prismatic.

We will eschew the outdoors for a while, today, in favor of not being pelted with falling chunks of ice.  Among the lucky, we didn't lose power in the night and perhaps will not lose it today, either, so I plan to make soup, bake cookies, and do things indoors while the children become wilder as the day wears on and they are trapped inside with all their endless energy.

Good Night, Irene

There's a storm a-comin'.

Meet Irene:

She's a beauty, big, bold, sassy, and ful of spunk. She's eyeballing the eastern US as a likely vacation spot, a popular choice as summer draws to a close. She's had a long journey, so it's no wonder she'd like to linger along the easterm seaboard.

It seems she's not terribly welcome, though - folks are abandoning the coast in droves. I guess they aren't interested in the kind of fireworks she's bringing with her. Huh.

We here in Redneck Central won't get much, if anything, of Iren's party - she isn't interested in our boring inland burgh. She want surf 'n' turf, man. We may get some rain, if we're lucky, but not much else.

If you're in the storm's area of influence, I hope you weather it well...and I'm wondering - will you stay or get out of Dodge??

Hot, Hotter, Hottest

Holy cats, it's hot around here.

No kidding, I think the driveway is melting a little, and the corners and sharp angles of the Casa are softening a bit. I tried to fry an egg on the stoop, but it was cooked before I could crack the shell!

We could water the garden four times a day and it wouldn't be enough - the cukes, tomatoes, and eggplants are all petering out, producing fewer, smaller fruits. The okra are going great guns, though, and we'll have a fair bit over the winter. I may even have a bash at pickling some! Umm...does anyone like pickled okra? 'Cause I'll make it, but eat it? Thank you, no.

The thermometer and the weather dude say it's only in the nineties during the day. They lie. Cats don't ooze with that lethargic, boneless, graceless slink when it's only in the nineties. I think their paws have been sticking to the pavement. We're getting well into the one-hundreds around here, especially with the heat index. If the humidity is 99%, shouldn't it be raining?? Walking outside is like being full-body smacked by a steaming sponge and then trying to breathe through it.

The air conditioner is trying, bless its mechanical heart, to help us out, but it's too small for the house and is struggling mightily to keep us at eighty-one degrees, running all day and well into the night without stop. Believe it or not, eighty-one feels just fine after a minute outside.

Meanwhile, there's another plant doing well out there in the garden...the Thai Insanity Pepper, after a spindly and questionable start (grower error, not congenital defect), decided that Redneck Central is just fine, thankee, and decided to give the okra a run for its money.

Check this out:

This one's going to be a seed pod:

I've only harvested three so far...while Phelan told me they're edible at any stage, I want them to get all red and tear-inducing. Someone ate the least ripe of the three and pronounced it hot but not unpleasant, good flavor, nice spreading heat with a little ring of fire that traveled from lips to the back of the throat. His face flushed a little, but he didn't cry or burst into flames. I'm thinking of making pepper sauce with 'em - he likes pepper sauce, and I'll use a wee bit on eggs sometimes...I wonder if Tabasco would give me their recipe...?

How're you making out with the heat?

Snow Day

Bird and I spent yesterday up at Mum's, running errands and doing a wee photo shoot - I needed some reference photos for an artist who has kindly offered to illustrate one of my children' stories.

We came home and I ran a few errands for Casa de Crazy, namely filling both vehicles with fuel and grabbing the ingredients for one of my favorite meatball recipes (posted below, without pictures 'cause I didn't take any). We were warned to expect Winter weather rolling in come nightfall, and I was craving something substantial.

Often when we get Winter weather, it means ice, which means no power for anywhere from a few hours to days. Sucks. Luckily, I can cook over the propane camp stove, and if it gets too cold we can always invade one of the neighbor's homes - they have fireplaces, while Casa de Crazy is one of the three homes in the neighborhood that was built without. What the Hell, Stupid Builder, were you thinking?? While we aren't famous for our blizzards around here, it does get cold (well...for most folks...to me, it's just a little chilly unless it's twenty below and windy) (no, really, you can ask Mum) and we do lose power fairly often. So far, though, so good.

The weather folks predicted 2 - 5 inches in Redneck Central, a substantial amount for this part of the country. Last time they said we'd have that much, one flake sort of waved on its way through town and that was it, so I wasn't going to hold my breath.

Last night on facebook, most of my friends were posting about the snow they were getting...but Casa de Crazy was clear and dry. I was starting to suspect either mass hallucinations or that someone had put a giant umbrella over the house. Finally, around ten-ish, we saw flakes a-falling. Went to bed about midnight while Nature kept at her frosting.

This morning? Let's just say the outdoor cats were very thankful that Someone is really a softie (don't tell him I said so) and let them into the garage for the night. We actually got enough snow to measure in inches, not millimeters.

Little Dude and I went out to play for a few minutes, but dang...even for me it was bloody cold! I was even wearing (gasp) a jacket!! Alert the media...

We came back in and now it's snowing again. We may go out later for some more play, but I'm just as happy to get the crockpot going (meatballs re-heating) and do some schooling with Bird...just as soon as I post a few pics here and the meatball recipe (someone wanted it last night, but I didn't feel like posting it on facebook)

Little Dude wanted to build a snowman, but it's just a little too powdery...so he settled for lobbing hunks of snow at me when my back was turned. Here's one of his projectiles:

I do love the way snow settles on every little thing:

Poor fairy - she endures all the weather with a good disposition:

If I get any good ones of the cats, I'll try to post them...but the cats are disinclined to oblige my need for silly kitty pictures, keeping under the truck and hugging the perimeter of the house when they can.

Right, recipe!

The cast:
1 stick of butter (and a defibrillator)
1 cup of flour
4 cups chicken broth
4 teaspoons dill (I use dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream
A bag o' frozen meatballs (or you can make your own if you like - I'm lazy and actually like the frozen ones)

Action:

In a large pot, make a rue with the butter and flour.

Slowly add the broth, whisking smooth. Add salt and dill.

Stir until thickened, like a nice cream soup or maybe a little thicker than that.

Add the sour cream, stir well.

Dump the meatballs into a slow cooker or large pot (this is the fun part - 3 or 4 cups if you want it saucier, or fill the crockpot if you plan to serve these as snacks/toothpick food) and pour the sauce over it. Stir it up to coat everything. Heat on low until the meatballs are nice and hot, stirring occasionally.

I like to serve these with egg noodles or rice and broccoli or green beans.

You can easily halve, quarter, or double this recipe depending on your needs, and they re-heat nicely if you can't finish them all in one sitting.

So - how's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Fog

Grey day. Yes, spell check, I use an "e" in "grey". It's perfectly acceptable...quit trying to change me, man...

Grey, grey day. Clouds hanging low, exhaling earthward, chill, damp respirations lingering, tangling themselves in trees, leaving dewy fingerprints on shrubs, no place for wild things to hide from the damp, no place for them to get warm.

The sun is up there, somewhere, but down here is only half light, filtered through soft layers of wetness, no hope of a friendly, stray, warming ray.

The birds are crows pecking at worms on the pavement beyond the yard - not even oil-rich black sunflower seed mix can entice the smaller ones out to add a splash of color to the monochromatic day.

My head is full of mucus. You're welcome. So are my lungs. There's a chorus, a cacophony, of coughing here at Casa de Crazy.

Coughing, sniffling, cattargh, pleas skyward to please make this damned thing go away, we'd really like to breathe again, thank you.

There are things to do, but I don't feel like doing them. I should wrap Bird's Yule gifts while he's not here. I don't have much, but it will suffice...and it's much easier to wrap them when he's not just around the corner - I don't have to be stealthy or wait until ohgod-thirty to get the job done. I may even do it...in a little while...

In a little while...

For now, though, I'm a diffusion of greyness myself, trying to brighten, to warm, but feeling rather limp, damp, and out of sorts instead.

How's the weather in the Blue Nowhere?

Wait a Day

Sunday we had this: Monday we had this: Wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Everybody Complains About the Weather

Georgia is flooding...but Seattle's having lovely weather. What the hell??

The Thunder Rolls

How is it that a storm can creep so gently in, it goes unnoticed until, carefully, shyly, it lets peal a soft roll of thunder, a low, rumbling purr that speaks less of tempest and more of reassurance?

How is it that the strobe of light, playing across the windows, shattering and scattering fragments from rain-bedecked leaves, puddles, crystal-beaded grass, is unseen until the storm flickers its well-established presence once, twice, signaling an invitation to come out, to dance?

How is it that the rain holds back its hushing sigh, its caress, its kiss, until the clouds have settled in place, great gray sheets of batting unrolled across the sky, liquid silver falling sweetly down, a benediction, an embrace much longed for, a cleansing of the spirit even as it is a nourishing of the earth, the heart?

The thunder rolls, and the rain falls, and I am in it and of it...and it is good.

Der Schnee, Der Schneeeeee!!!

Or, you know, snow.

It's snowing here in Georgia. To think just last week we were outside in shorts, mourning the fact that we never got any snow this Winter. Hah!!

Right now, it's mostly slush falling, a mix of sleet, snow, and freezing rain...but my friends South of me swear it's coming down in big, fluffy flakes, a real Winter wonderland, so I'm hoping we get that, too. Bird really wants to go play in some snow...

In honor of our erstwhile snow day, I am baking banana bread, brewing some organic, fair trade coffee, and hanging with my family. Later, I'm going to take some of the bread over to the neighbors.

The house is cleaner that it's been in a long while, because I thought I had band rehearsal today...but the band had other ideas - no one wants to be stuck here overnight if it freezes (and it probably will, because if it doesn't freeze, we won't lose power, and I think it's a local ordinance that when it snows or sleets or freezes, we have to lose power) so we're going to try to get together tomorrow. It smells lovely - baked goods are better than potpourri, hands down.

Shh, don't look now - but I think I just saw some really, truly, big fat snowy flakes falling past the window.

Yay!

Blow Me

Gusting winds, glowering sky, rain in fits and starts, and the possibility of tornadoes.

I don't care, I was here first.

And I'm still going to the gallery in the morning. But first - I'm for a walk in the wild weather. See you in Oz!

Oh the Weather Outside Is...umm...

...not at all frightful, at least not to me.

It is snowing. In Georgia (not the Soviet one). In December.

If you live in the Midwest, mountains, New England, or other normally snowy climes, you're probably thinking So what? Big deal. We get snow all the time.

Did I mention I live in Georgia, in the Southeastern United States? Where it's not usually very cold, let alone snowy, before February, if at all? Yep.

It won't stick or last very long, but it reminds me of my time in New Hampshire. I miss it there, with the proper seasons, the snow, heating our buildings with wood stoves and never minding if the power went out because we could cook over the stoves, use candles for light, and put all our frozen stuff outside to keep it from going off.

Bird and I stood out in the flurries and caught the tiny snowflakes on our tongues. I'm turning our turkey into soup. Nice day.

Rain on Me (and You, and Half the State)

Whew.

Drought conditions can make a body a little funny about weather - every cloud has the potential to be a terrific blessing, if only it would wring itself out over key places, like one's home or the reservoir/lake.

Last night, a few ragged remnants of Fay rolled over our patch of Earth and came to rest for a time, graciously bringing a hostess gift of rain.

Inches of it.

More than four inches, to be something more than vague but less than precise.

Again, whew.

Mum's home town made the Weather Channel for their four-and-a-half inch bonanza. Her pond went from pathetic puddle to white-water fed turmoil overnight, and she spent more than an hour first thing this morning cleaning out the overflow pipe so her pond could feed the larger pond nearby. Both ponds have suffered, in the last few months.

This morning, I looked out and saw a world gone green again. It has been yellowing, browning, wilting, fading, turning to a whisper of its former self, and now it is verdant (for a little while, any way)

We are expecting more rain, I am told. I'm glad for that - in the last few months, we've had...well, nothing, really. Dry, drier, driest, it's been.

If it rains later (forecast calls for rain through the next two days), I will go out and gleefully dance in it, maybe splash some puddles with the Evil Genius.

Wanna join us?

How Hot Was It??

It was so hot, the cake melted. It wasn't an ice cream cake, either. Also, we were in the shdae, and the cake was on ice. Think about that.

Bird, Noodle, Sweet Cheeks and Little Man and some other kids all had fun playing at the park, and they were all pretty good about drinking water and resting now and then. Towards the end of the party, someone broke out a water gun, and delighted/angry shrieks ensued. Most of the adults opted to hug the shade as much as we could, even following it around the picnic table.

I actually pre-started the van to cool off the interior before we left, something I rarely do - waste of gas, too polluting.

Bird is bathing as I type, splashing in a tub full of cool water, hopefully washing the sand off - I swear, he brought half the sand box home!

The thermometer says it is over 100 degrees. I have no idea how those kids played for two hours in the heat like that. Thank you, people who invented central A/C!!

Meanwhile, in White Horse, Canada, it is snowing.

Hot and...well, mostly hot.

Not long ago I was conversing with a friend about the oddly cool weather we've been having. Usually, it's already well into the nineties during the day, and even the evenings are too warm for open windows - we'd usually be running the A/C full tilt by now.

Until three nights ago, we've had windows open to keep the house cool, and the A/C won't kick on unless I set it down to seventy...which I don't like doing. It's been cooler outside than in!

Today, that is supposed to change - the forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid-nineties. Of course. Because today, we are inflicting dropping of The Evil Genius with a friend and the adults are going to the Ren Fest again, this time to actually see some of the shows and maybe shop. Don't get me wrong, the kid's play area at our Faire is amazing...but it's not why I go.

So on what is shaping up to be our hottest day of the year so far, we're going to go walk around a huge, open, not very shaded site...and to make matters even more interesting, I'm wearing blue-jeans, because I refuse to wear shorts in public. Really, you'd thank me

Maybe I'll melt off thirty pounds or so!

Aww, hail!

So a few minute ago, we had a bit of hail. There was another twister somewhere nearby, but it went visiting elsewhere. This time, T and J took the Evil Genius down to the little bathroom, but I had to take pictures. 'Cause, you know...I am just that clever! Here's what we had falling on our house:

Hailstones...on my front porch...make me happyyyy....

Hailstones...on my big fat hand...make me smiiiile...

Oh, hailstones...on my front porch....make me happyyyy....

Hailstones...on my yard...make me very glad I didn't plant any seedlings yet because they'd be very unhappy with the weather right nooooowwwwww...

So much for the musical interlude. I brought in some hailstones and Bird and I had a snack. Yes, that's how much I respect the weather. Hey, they're calorie free, and cool your drink fast!

The sun's out, now...I may go look for rainbows.

Speaking of Tornadoes...

I had a late start this morning, so I didn't get to the gym until almost eleven o'clock. 35 minutes on level 2 hills, 1.9 miles, and three rounds of the circuit room...in case you cared. A woman who was working out in the circuit room mentioned that we were expecting bigger storms than we had last night, supposedly heading right for us. As we spoke, Alabama was being lambasted (not her words, mine) and we should brace ourselves. Well, thanks, Suzy Sunshine! I opted to finish my workout and let the weather sort itself out without my help.

I had to run to the grocery store afterwards. My goodness. People buying cases of water, loaves and loaves of bread. Really, you get hit by a tornado and you want bread and water? I would be stocking up on chocolate and bottled Starbuck's.

While out and about, I called home to see if I needed to add anything to the list. Our roommate was concerned that I wasn't home, the first time. Second time, he said I needed to get my butt home right away. I told T to relay to him that I would get home when I was damn good and ready, and the tornado could just wait for me.

I got home, and a few minutes later, the sky looked quite sullen. I think the storm was cross with me for not being home when it came to call. T and J were watching the local weather, and as T was helping me bring in the groceries, he told me there were reports of funnels all over Gainesville. That's just a few miles north of us. I replied "That's Gainesville and we live in Braselton." If you live 'round here or look at a map, you'll know why that's so funny. If you don't know, well...we may as well be in Gainesville, where weather is concerned. The storm system was ten miles wide, more than enough to cover Gainesville and us with some to spare. Whatever. I was here first.

On the weather map, there wasn't a fraction of an inch small enough to describe how close the tornadoes were to where we live. Looking out the window, you'd never know they were out there. We're fine, didn't even head for the downstairs bathroom, although I think T and J wanted to go. I wanted to eat my lunch. Working out makes me hungry, dang it, and if I am going to get smushed by my house, I'd prefer to do it with a full stomach.

So here I sit, surrounded by storms, inches away from an exclamation point of an afternoon, and what am I doing? Seeking shelter? Watching the weather channel? No and no. I am eating my mostly-veggies Italian sandwich and watching the Mobil One Twelve Hours of Sebring (I have worked in the communications tower for this race - fun, fun, fun!!). Smart, me.

I said "Bring on the rain"...

...not go make a mess!!

So a tornado, or some wind strong enough to pretend to be a tornado, hit Atlanta last night. Usually when I hear about storm damage, I shrug my shoulders, say a blessing for the folks affected, and continue on with my day. Sometimes, if I know someone involved, I will try to help them recover, but for the most part, I have accepted that I live in a tornado prone area and that, on occasion, I or someone I know will have to dance with the dervish.

I am not surprised when there's a tornado, but it seems to stun the news community every time. They get busier than a fire-ant mound when you step on it. A tornado was bound to hit the city proper one of these days, but folks seem stunned by that, too. Like cities are supposed to be immune, and only little towns or suburbs are subject to the whims of the wind.

Several of the buildings hit are places I have frequented in the past, due to my long history with the Festival of Trees, which until last year was held at the Atlanta World Congress Center. I've fetched lunch from the CNN center a number of times, and stayed at the Omnni hotel. They've all had some kind of damage from the storm.

When T first told me about it, he said that they were all destroyed, along with Centennial Olympic Park and some local lofts. Being T, he of course was a tad...umm...exaggerated in his reporting. They are not destroyed, just a touch...bent (although the lofts do look more ventilated that before). Destroying the Congress Center would take more than wind. A thermonuclear device wouldn't dent that convention-filled concrete rabbit warren.

Atlanta is a bit messy - it looks a little like what I imagine a frat house would be after a three day weekend. Below are some pictures I blatantly copied from several sources, including the AP story here and the AJC website here. What, you thought I would go down there myself? What am I, crazy? Wait, wait, don't answer that.

Looks like a movie set, doesn't it?

Outside the CNN Center

Tornado damage, or SEC fans gone wild??

The Omni Hotel won't need window washers for a while.

The view from the Omni Hotel down to Centennial Park.

A downed light pole at Centennial Park

Drama in the sky.

How windy was it?

It has been remarkably windy here. Not as windy as this:

At least, I don't think it has been...but I bet the owl is wishing it had a good pair of tennis shoes right now, because walking would be preferable to battling the gusts we're having.

Who pissed off the Zephyrs??

A Rainy Day

This morning, I woke to a room cool with shadows, large pillow at my back, arms wrapped around the bunched-up comforter. Thunder rumbled in the far distance, a comfortable, snuggled-into-bed kind of sound. Maya the cat was nestled in with me, purring softly, nose tucked under tail. Her purring made a counterpoint to the thunder. Ki, another cat, was curled up with her, making a feline Gordian Knot.

Rainy morning wake-ups can be such luxurious things - when you can sleep late, wake slowly (no phone ringing, nowhere to be, child still sleeping), and come gently into the day. I've long enjoyed waking up to long, rolling thunder, the patter of rain on the roof, the grey light and the silver wet.

Last night, I once again pulled a muscle in my neck - it's the same one, over and over, and I think I need a new pillow or it'll keep happening. It hurts to turn my head, aches all the way down into my shoulder. I didn't sleep well until around five or six this morning, so being let to sleep in, having life, the universe, and everything scheme to give me a lovely morning like this one, well...I sure do appreciate it.

I had enough time before Bird woke up to make a bit of breakfast and check on the owl to see if if he was still there - he is. I wonder what he thinks of rainy days? Maybe he just sleeps right through them. Bird and I will certainly be having a laid-back day. A bake-cookies kind of day. A banana bread day. A laundry and snoozing on the recliner day. A rainy day.