Reach out...

Am trying to avoid the DNC this week -- just as I tried to avoid the RNC in July. I understand Ronald Reagan's concerns when he said,  "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." I am a small government kind of person. I am not a fan of politics.  I like independence and a bit of isolation from the outside world. The rolling hills and woods of Northwest Pennsylvania are, therefore, a great place for me to live.  I live here on purpose -- sort of out of reach and even ignored. Must mention though that I am not totally out of touch. I do keep track of things including some of the insanity.  I do, however, consider being remote (living in the sticks) a good thing. People tend to underestimate you and therefore put themselves at a distinct disadvantage when thinking they are special and above you. People who live in the sticks also tend to have their feet planted firmly on the ground.  If you live around here you know what that means.  It's a good thing.

We may be behind in style here.  Don't care.  We may not be considered with it or cool.  Don't care about that either.  I just want to live my life in peace and be able to reach out to those with whom I am able to interact directly.  It's simple really.  Remember that old AT&T jingle from the late '80"s-- "Reach out and touch someone"? I am comfortable with that.  It isn't always possible to sit down at the kitchen table with people or even to get them on the phone, but ... with texting and some forms of social media nowadays, it's even easier to stay in touch than in the "olden days". (Even writing a blog works and... I have been known to use snail mail as well.)

Back in the day when I was young, feeling helpless, and seriously concerned about saving the world, my Mom said to me -- "... just reach out to the ones you are able to touch.  That may make all the difference... even something as simple as a smile counts."   I think she was right.  Then again....

Note.  I am reaching out here... this time without a smile. Having said all the above, I find that I just can't leave my mentioning of the DNC without asking this question.  Does anyone else find it disturbingly odd that a Planned Parenthood mobile van, all the way from St. Louis, is parked outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in order to give free medical abortions, emergency contraception, and vasectomies?  Reports indicate that all appointment times have been reserved and that medical abortions and vasectomies are occurring at a steady assembly line pace. I couldn't find any information on the quantity of emergency contraception that has been given away for free.  Wonder if St. Louis Planned Parenthood are paying for their parking? 

Seriously... here I had been thinking the attending Democratic Delegates went to Chicago to gather with like minds, clap together, and perhaps to brag when they got home that they survived long speeches, late nights and a trip to crime ridden Chicago.  Guess I was wrong at least in part. I think I would be especially disturbed by this if I were a member of the Democratic party who did not believe in abortion. Did the DNC or pro choice Democrats invite them to Chicago, or did St. Louis' Planned Parenthood just assume they would be welcome and roll in uninvited to snuggle up a bit? There are conflicting answers to that question. Apparently neither Planned Parenthood nor the DNC have answered directly ... as of yet. Either way The Pope and pro life Dems cannot be pleased. 

 

Ah , Northwest Pennsylvania...

 Ah, Northwest Pennsylvania... the land of flame orange in the Fall, lake effect snow in the winter and towns with names like Beaver Dam, Spring Creek, Horn Siding, and Hatch Hallow. It is welcoming. It is hill country where curvy, rough two-lane roads that are chewed on the edges are the norm. There is a certain charm in it all and a certain pride in knowing that you can survive here -- all the while scoffing at those who fret about a mere threat of snow.  Ha.  True grit.  Survival of the fittest. 

This is the time of year when I feel the need to check my sock drawer, and to make sure I have mittens and warm boots at the ready. Time is limited now to cut back plants before Spring when they will be slimy and even harder to deal with. Icky.  It is also a time of vivid blue skies providing a backdrop for leaves that are turning from deep green into vibrant colors... each day becoming a different postcard worthy scene. It is the time when walking paths and sidewalks include the bonus of the sounds of leaves under foot.  It is a time of mums in bloom, squash and pumpkins in all kinds of colors and sizes. It is a time of raking while wearing a sweatshirt and cozy fires. Harvest time is coming to an end. Barns are full of hay. Too bad Fall is so short lived in Northwest Pennsylvania.

The quiet cold grays of winter will be here before we know it. There is a beauty in those days as well.  But for now...

Enjoy these lovely Autumn days.  

Where is Winter?

 

Probably by the time I am about to post this blog, things will have changed, but for now I have to say I am still waiting for winter. All my boots are mud, if not dust, covered. If you live in NW PA, and it is snowing when you read this, please pretend that it hasn’t started yet and think back a couple of days. Normally my least favorite month as it seems to me like the longest month of the year, February is different this year.  Now almost the middle of February, it is 54º, “… And the green grass grows all around all around / And the green grass grows all around…”. I even saw some sun today.  Strange. A few days ago, I heard geese as they were flying North. Just yesterday I noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Goose have made their annual stop at the pond next door -- a full month early!

We have had snow in bursts this season, but nothing that lasts very long. The skiers and snowboarders are thankful that it has been cold enough to make snow at nearby ski resorts.  I am okay with dry roads and the lack of ice, but the lack of snow is unnerving somehow.  When you grow up in Northwest Pennsylvania and live here for decades, this mild weather is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it just seems to go on an on.  There is a certain unease about a non-winter.  People in these parts know that somehow we will pay for this in the long run.  We believe deep down that nothing will let us off the hook. We have become accustomed to dealing with at least 150" of snow and to have so little is unsettling. I remember that his has happened before off and on since that one February when I was in grade school, when I walked to school with no coat. I know. But... it is always odd.

Anyway … snow and bitter cold are a part of who we are. This year we have missed the snow but not all the bitter cold. Usually the two go together. The thing is – many of us would rather have a good ground cover of snow than the recurring mud of this year’s so-called winter. Snow cover, after all, makes everything look clean and makes the world quieter and more peaceful somehow.  Those aspects of winter are nice. We are ready for snow here. We have special gear for snow and every third pickup in these parts has a plow on the front. Almost all personal vehicles are all-wheel or 4-wheel drive. Thank goodness for all pickup plows and vehicles that will get you out of your driveway and along the roadways even if the big plows haven't rumbled through very often as of yet. We handle snow well. Plus.. we know how to shovel.

I realize that, if we get a blizzard now after writing all this, that it will serve me right. Sorry. It’s like the Weather in these parts has ears and likes to seek revenge. That’s why we whisper things like “This has been a really easy winter.” In fact - I am whispering in my head as I write this. We know we will pay for the good days. Case in point -- I have seen snow in the air in June. 

Sometimes I wonder why people live here.  In the summer, one can count the consecutive number of sunny days on one hand. Personally I live here because I like the cold and don’t mind cloudy summer days. I also like socks and sweatshirts. (It goes without saying that I like the people who live here.)  Guess every part of the country has it’s good and not so good weather points.  At least mold doesn’t survive well in these climes and no one has to worry about termites. They cannot survive temperatures below 25º. (I know this because I looked it up a long time ago. Don't know why, but I did.)  So ..there is that. One less thing to worry about.

Northwest Pennsylvanians are a Hearty bunch. We expect winter to be winter.  Maybe not as wintery as Buffalo NY, but still winter.    Let it snow... or not. We are ready.... 

Thoughts on Winter...

 

Inhabitants of Northwest Pennsylvania tend to think of winter as a normal part of it all.  We rarely shut down anything for snow- although ice is at times a bit of an issue. Only on rare occasions would we allow either to interfere with our plans. We move about our lives thankful that we do not have to deal with hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes or pineapple cyclones, but, I confess, we do snort laugh when TV weather people report 6 inches of the white stuff as paralyzing. We sympathize but ... that is a just past a mere dusting here. Actually we have a lot of different words to describe snow - probably because there is usually so much so often. We know it well. We make jokes about it and plod on.

When talking about snow, it is, in fairness, important to consider point of view. The headquarters for the National Weather Service is in Silver Springs, Maryland. The average snowfall there is about a foot spread out over an entire winter season. The headquarters for The Weather Channel is in Atlanta, Georgia. They had snow there on January 23, 1940. Both the NWS and the WC tend to foam and twitch at the mere thought of a couple of inches of snow and try to get people all wound up about it. Seriously what do they know about snow? They probably close schools in either of those places if there is one single snow flake in the air that melts before it hits the ground.  We laugh at them too … as they know basically nothing about "real" snow.  Talk to people in places like Buffalo, NY if you want to lean about real snow. Must mention at this point that my small town at times has the highest annual snowfall in the Commonwealth of PA – one year it was 115” above the national average.  Many years there is much more snow than that. Erie, Pa (about 35 miles away) had five feet in 36 hours a couple of years ago, and we still out snowed them that year. That was the year when Erie ran out of places to put the snow and people found themselves still digging out in April.  Seriously… (Well – that might be a slight exaggeration….)

Anyway -- we in Northwest Pennsylvania understand that not everyone is as used to dealing with snow as we are and – they don’t do it as well – lack of practice and proper equipment. We forget that there are people who do not know that studded snow tires or chains, long underwear, or boots with cleats even exist. I suppose we take a bit of pride in our knowledge of the ways of snow country and in the digging out of the "big coats" and trudging on. We always feel sorry for people who get dumped on who are not set up for it. Then again -- sometimes we make fun of people -- especially of snow birds… even though we know they do better in milder climes and are basically happy for them. (It’s okay to be wimpy. I get sick of mittens and boots too. By the way -- snow birds are people who escape the snow belt and head south for the warmth of sunshine ... aka wimps. I love them anyway.) My simple truth is that I hate hot weather.  I can always get warmer, but cannot always find a way to get cooler. Plus – I detest light weight clothes.  I am at my best when I layer and… I love thick socks. I have a lot of them. I pad around in them on a daily basis. I sometimes sleep in them on cold nights.  I buy boots in a bigger size so that my feet will slip in no matter how thick my socks are.  It’s that simple really. I am a cold weather person. That is one reason why I live here on purpose.  That and I like the people here -- also winter people for the most part, and the rest have most admirable gumption.

Even though it has been feebly snowing for a few days now as I write this, winter doesn’t really seem to have settled in yet. It is past due. We have had a couple of good storms with a few feet of snow each, but nothing is lasting very long.  It is like a broken promise really.  Winter is taking its time – sort of galumphing in and tripping along the way. We haven’t even had more than a few hours of  the blinding, yet beautiful winter whiteness of light reflecting off the snow. My Grandson has only been snowboarding maybe a dozen times, and it’s already the 2^nd week of January.  We feel cheated somehow in a rather twisted way and ... we keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. We live off the Great lakes -- in the Snow Belt.  We are ready and waiting.

The days are already getting longer.  It stays daylight now until around 5 PM and is inching toward later. Kids are now waiting for early morning school buses only about 15 - 30 minutes before the sun is actually up. My Granddaughter is just now beginning to walk to school in daylight. Soon we will be anticipating those aching yellow-greens of spring. Now those are greens -- so vivid that they hurt your eyes.  They shimmer.  Not sure if you have to live here to know what I mean, or perhaps we just appreciate it more after months of white, gray, black and the muddy brown of in betweens.  Perhaps it takes a while for our eyes to adjust to color. We sometimes go days without it. We take photographs and they look like they were taken in black and white mode ... but were not. Dreary always begins with a capital D here.

Ah, snow country in Northwest Pennsylvania.  Did I tell you that it is also cold and windy here?  We are on a first name basis with the wild chill factor if that tells you anything, and we sometimes have the kind of winds that make windows rattle in a most impressive way. I wish I owned stock in ChapStick. NWPA Winter...  It's not for the faint of heart. Bring it on. Let the fun begin.

Spring has almost Sprung...

Note to those of you in the snow country of Northwest Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas who have been in relative hibernation (I know you are out there)...

The official start of Spring is Sunday, the 20th of March. That's just three days from now.  It's time. You should have already been through all your gardening books and catalogs by now. You should have set out your mud boots and light weight gloves.  You should be ready to join those who have already found their way outside.  If Punxsutawney Phil can stick his nose out of his cozy lair, so can you.

Now is the time to knock down those "man-eating spider webs" you have been watching grow all winter.

Now is the time to put away the "why bother bras" and put on proper attire for a reentry into the world of no long unders or sweatshirts needed.

It's soon to be officially Spring!  So -- put on your mud boots and get some fresh air. Put the screens back in your windows. Take a deep breath with no fear of freezing lung tissue. (Actually -- check the temperature first just in case the weather hasn't checked the calendar.)  Anyway -- smile -- we are almost there.

We survived another one.   Yes, we did!       Oh -- Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Brrr...

I continue to live in NW Pennsylvania because I don’t enjoy hot weather.  The summers are relatively cool (usually) and the winters -- well -- they are a bit more than cool, but I tell myself that the cold preserves me better. Earlier this season, even before the calendar start of winter, when what the weather people called an Arctic Express blasted Buffalo, it seemed too cold to snow here, but today is different.  I woke up to snow, and it has not stopped all day.  Now early evening, there looks to be a least a foot of the white stuff on the ground, not to mention deeper drifts, and it is still coming down.  Natives of this area would say that we are paying our dues for the seventeen days of sun this past summer or for a lovely autumn – several nice days in a row – maybe even three.   If you are not from around here, you need to realize that snow people believe that we will “pay” for every nice weather day we have throughout the “non-winter” month(s).  We simply cannot comprehend that there are places in the world that enjoy nice weather most of the time and where people don't know what lake-effect snow means.  I mean -- we know that there are places like that; we just don’t really get it. We live by our experience with weather and have begun to take some level of pride in our ability to survive. We often mention things like we are of hardy stock and take pride in our ability to keep a sense of humor when surrounded by white and gray from sky to ground. We also know that a person needs more than one type of snow shovel.  Bless our hearts. 

To make matters worse this time of year -- what I am finding now is that I don't enjoy winter as much as I did when I was younger.  Duh....  There are a few reasons. Snowshoes are no longer as much fun.  Ice has taken on new meaning now that my age group no longer jokes about broken hips... and... my eye balls sometimes seem to freeze during the time it takes to walk to my mailbox and back.  Yep -- new meanings. Winter no longer means ice-skating on Alice Lake at Mead Park, sledding on Piccadilly Hill, or spontaneous snowball fights. Then again it no longer means wool coats that when wet weigh twice your body weight. (Remember that wet wool smell of mittens and socks drying by the fire at Nichols lodge?  Actually -- I seriously don't miss that smell.)   

Then or now, winter weather is winter weather. As time passes, it takes longer and longer to get psychologically prepared for it even if we do have access to better winter clothing and to boots that do not require bread wrappers over our socks. Winter in NW Pennsylvania can be especially challenging, but then again -- there is a certain beauty to the change of the seasons here as well -- even if you start in early October to count the days until spring... even if you wonder if it will snow the night of the prom in May.  I think I will stay here for a while longer -- I am a snow person.

  Stay warm...