December 2, 2008
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Colder Today
Need I say that I have been relatively uninspired to blog lately?
Blogging about the weather… all I can say about that is that it is less stressful and distasteful than blogging about politics. Still, whiney Mikey Chertoff will soon be replaced as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. That might be very good news. I’ll wait until I learn the new secretary’s views on RFID chips before I make up my mind on that one.
It is about fifteen below zero Fahrenheit outside and about 55 above in here. I don’t know if the new wood stove could do that all by itself. When I got up this morning, I found that Doug had left the little electric heater under the computer desk on when he went to bed. We have agreed to unplug it when we get up from here, but maybe I shouldn’t complain.
Yesterday afternoon, I noticed that the clouds had cleared off and the sun was illuminating the snowy trees in a fantastic way. As I went for my camera, the phone rang. After a few minutes on the phone, I got the camera and went out, but by then the sun was low enough below the treetops to the south that treetops were all that were illuminated. I shot a few, anyway.
The weight of snow on branches is worrisome. The wind that came with the high front when it moved in took some of the snow, but there are still a lot of branches drooping under the weight.
In answer to spinksy‘s question on day length, it depends on who you ask. The radio today said it is six hours and one minute today. According to Old Farmer’s Almanac, it is 5 hours and 42 minutes, and Superpages makes it over seven hours, which must include twilight, too. As I see it, this week we are getting a little over five and a half hours of daylight each day. Three weeks from now, around the Solstice, the almanac says it will be just a minute over five hours, and then the days start getting longer again. Come on, Midnight Sun!
Comments (12)
I feel downright scandalous that I enjoy my house at 65 degrees. 60 would be just fine, really; I just wouldn’t move around much. I have friends in warmer climates whose heaters are set at at least 72 degrees. I pity their intolerance to a slight chill and know my gas bill will thank me for it.
I agree about the RFID chips.
I was gonna ask if you could use solar there, but with only 5 hours of sunlight, I guess it might be kind of futile. Maybe wind?
Yay, I just learned somethin new! RFID chips are not something you eat!
Midnight sun sounds kinda cool.
Hi! (Waves) Found you through Fibroland… re: RFID chips… I read an article a few years back that they installed scanners on the on and off ramps… the RFID being in your tags we place on our license plates… the excuse being that it would help in a time of war or police action. These types of things get me on a soap box… I’m not sure what upsets me more… the people passing our libertys away or the mass of sheeple sleeping through it all… btw… your photos are beautiful!
) Cindy
@saturnnights - Wind seldom blows here. Farther down the valley, or farther north, or even just on one of the mountainsides I can see from here, maybe wind would be practical, but not here.
@Whoopsie_Daisys - ”Sheeple…” I like that word. Thanks, I think I’ll use it. So many times, I’ll say something to my husband like, “What are they thinking? Why do they… [whatever]?” … and he says, “They’re asleep.” Yeah.
“Sheeple” was always too elitist and divisive for my liking. I prefer to think that I am with these sheeple and I am them and they are me, not part of an above and seperate category.
If I start calling others’ sheeple, it opens the door for me to begin thinking of them as some sort of untermensch and regarding them with a little contempt. I can’t do that to myself, or to the beings that I love. Guess that Piscean shit is still alive and kickin’, hey?
Lovely photos. We got our first stick-to-the-ground snow this morning. Maybe an 1/2″… Just ugly snow, too. Nothing pretty. Must’ve been really wet or the ground was warm at first… since it ended up being half ice/half snow by the time I went to shovel what there was of it. Annoying. I think our temp is around 30F with winds between 30-40mph. Not particularly pleasant.
Hopefully, the snow will go away during the day. Driving home from work on this half ice/half snow mixture was no fun at all…
@Apocatastasis - Since Pisces represents believing in dogmas, accepting uncritically what one is told, and following leaders, as well as emotional sentimentality and sticky warm fuzzies — and don’t forget that the symbol of the fish is associated with the one they call the Good Shepherd, “sheeple” is a fine word for those who indulge in Piscean mores and behaviors.
That single word combines two familiar words in such a way that it conveys an idea that I am unable to express in other words with less than a dozen or so: people who unthinkingly follow and take comfort from entrenched customs or strong leaders.
Honi soit qui mal y pense.
Does it sound too jealous if I say that I saw a few flakes on Monday and was amazed? Thought so. sigh.
Lovely winter photos.
@closethippie - Your envying our snow suggests that you probably live in one of those places where the sun removes it after a while and it doesn’t have to be shoveled.
Greyfox told me last night that a warming trend is forecast for this week. My first question was, “When did they say the snow would start?” Warmer air means precipitation, and that means snow. It is beautiful, but shoveling it is exhausting. We have already had enough this winter that we have to think about where we are piling it, to avoid blocking windows or having it fall back down where we have to shovel it again.
@SuSu - Yeah, it’s certainly true of many people and a fairly applicable word, but I still find that it fosters elitist, contemptous, and divisive attitudes [within myself] because it allows me to create some mental categories that I don’t want. I’d rather not come anywhere near forming a superiority complex. Think about how sheep are often regarded as stupid, and animals are often regarded as lower beings, and you can see why I don’t like the word. These people might follow the pack, but I don’t think any less of them… and the word “sheeple” carries connotations of inferiority with it IMO, for the reasons stated above. That’s something I just don’t want. I don’t think of them as inferior, just “different”.