Celebrate the Weekend with Melting Ice - A Photo Blog

The snow yesterday was wet and heavy but we're in Spring and our temperatures are much better. Two or three months ago this snowstorm would have become semi-permanent with an underlying coat of solid ice. But that was a few months ago. Instead, the areas we shoveled are totally dry, and the remaining snow will melt quickly as our temperatures move above 40 and 50 degrees again. So, in honor of Spring, I'm doing photos of melting ice to share today.

Look at this melting ice shelf. It may be bad for all of this ice to be
melting, but it's so beautiful! 

If you know me, you know I love waterfalls. These waterfalls cascading
off an ice shelf might be evidence of global warming, but they're still
wonderful to look at. 

Look at these lovely ice formations. It's a great picture by Swedish
photographer Hans Strand. 

This lovely rainbow appeared over the just melting Hukou waterfalls of the
Yellow River in China. The rivers of China are so huge and angry in
the spring, they always amaze me and frighten me with their sheer force. 

Minnehaha Falls is just over the river in Minneapolis. It's a popular
tourist attraction and quite beautiful. It has just started to melt from
our winter freeze. This picture was taken at the end of March, showing
the falls running once again. 

These icicles are another photo from Hukou on the Yellow River. Check out the
rainbow and the ice-covered cliffs in the background. This is
an amazing river. 

I thought I would end this with what the Hukou waterfalls on the Yellow
River in China look like when they are fully melted. Isn't that water just
amazing? 

Have a great weekend and think Spring!

The Only Good Things About Today Are...

With the snowstorm stalled out over us and continuing to dump snow (more than eight inches so far and not stopping anytime soon), I need to figure out something positive to think about instead of shoveling, dealing with slippery intersections, and a possible serious problem just getting in to the parking lot at the shop. So...I'm determined to look at the positive, even though Mother Nature is making that very hard today.

I'm hoping this is our last storm of the season, but last year we had
snow into May. If this is the end, I'll be very thankful. 

The snow will finally be over by noon, but we'll have a total of close to a foot by the end of this. It'll melt quickly, but we still have to shovel out today. I'm just going to take my time today. Chickie will be late getting in because she's accompanying her mother to get some medical tests before she makes it in, and I'm sure the traffic will be horrid. So, I'm not really going to care when I get into the shop.

I realize I complain about the weather a lot, but I live in Minnesota! 'Nuf said! 

I'll help my DH dig out, although if I could wake him up later, then maybe he'll snow blow instead. It certainly would be easier on him. So...again...I'll take my time. I do want breakfast, though (the most important meal of the day - LOL). So I'll either grab coffee and oatmeal (my preference) or an omelette (my second choice). My breakfast choice will be more time dependent and I have no idea how long it will take to shovel out.

Winter can be beautiful. Just look at this incredible curled ice off this
roof top. It's just gorgeous! 

The snow should be quite beautiful, and at least we didn't get any tornadoes out of it. My thoughts go out to my friends in the St Louis area where they had tornadoes last night. They are on the southern side of the storm, so getting all of the unstable weather.

After the snows of winter we'll be in to the tornado and super-cell times of
summer. Although beautiful, these storms can be deadly. 

Even though the storm is moving slowly, at least it is moving. We'll get another 2"-4" of snow before this peters out around noon and I'll be quite happily waving it good-bye as it moves east. It's a really slow moving storm and will be making its impact felt for several more days, I suspect.

Whoever is shaking the snow globe...PLEASE STOP! 

I hope everyone has a truly wonderful Friday.

But I'm Out of Salt!!!

Mother Nature is evil. There! I said it. She whom I actually love in her many, fascinating aspects is an evil witch (just replace the first letter) today. I need spring. I've put in my shoveling, snow-booted, parka-wearing, scarf-wrapping days. It's April, for goodness sake! This should be far beyond me now.

Loved this wonderful view of Mother Nature. 

But NO! She's sending us a reminder of how truly miserable the winter was. So, because we haven't had nearly enough snow or cold weather yet, we're getting another 6"-14" snow dumped on us starting later this morning.

We've already had our first tornadoes of the season last week and probably
will see a few more in this story. Thundersnow is also expected. 

Can I say ICK!!!!? Can I say "I am SO tired of this crap!!!?" Can I just crawl back into bed and ignore the next 48 hours?

Really!!!? REALLY!!!? Snow again!!!?

Unfortunately ignoring isn't an option, but it doesn't negate the desire. I'm SO not looking forward to my days today and tomorrow. I'll be happy to see the inside of my garage tonight, but I'll hate getting up tomorrow and realizing that the snow will be wet, heavy, and have to be shoveled before I can leave for work.

Have you ever wondered this? Follow the link to a short article that
explains why salt melts ice. 

I'm wondering when this winter will ever end.....and I'm out of salt!

Because I Only Have 30 Minutes

I usually have 45-60 minutes to do my blog but I got caught up in emails and ran out of time. So...photo blog today (which can often be more time-consuming, but I'll watch it carefully). Snow is back on the way to us, ready to hit us tomorrow and Friday with anywhere from 6"-12" of heavy, wet snow. ICK! It will melt soon, but we'll need to survive the end of the week first. I'll enjoy today because it'll be a nice one. Therefore, I think I'll look at pictures that are NOT featuring snow. So, let's see if any theme comes through my jangled thoughts by the end of my choices...

I really loved this picture of warm fields. Of course it's probably
Photoshopped, but who cares? It's just pretty! 

I love the warm reflections in the pond balanced with the amazing sky above. I found
this on a little website featuring amazing photography. 

This is a rather amazing photo of the Kelimutu Volcano. It has a warm
horizon and volcanoes are warm...yes? Are you sensing a theme here yet? 

Here's a retreating cloudbank over a mountaintop lake. I've seen the clouds act
like this when I lived in the mountains. It's almost as if the clouds have
sentient thoughts and like acting like blankets for the high peaks. 

The broad plains in various places on earth are powerful in their own
right. I loved this picture of a sunset behind the solitary church on the hilly
plains. It reminds me of scenes I saw in South Dakota over the years. 

And for my final warm picture in this photo blog, a wonderful photo of Crater Lake, Oregon. Although there is plenty of snow in the picture, the overall effect is so beautiful, I'll overlook the snow and focus on the warm.

A wonderful picture of sun over the rim of Crater Lake. 

Have a warm and Happy Wednesday. I hope to get a lot of my errands and chores done today and am looking forward to my weekly chat with Aearwen.  I'll be back to talk with all of you tomorrow.

It's April Fool's Day - No Joke!

Today is April first, also known as April Fool's Day. I awakened this morning wondering why it is called April Fool's Day and what the history is behind it, so I started a quick research project. It appears that there are tendrils of roots going back to the days of Imperial Rome (although pushing back into B.C. times in Iran, so perhaps they are the birthplace of this strange tradition), continuing on through Chaucer (of course, because Chaucer had his fingers in many pies) and firmly continuing on into the Middle Ages.

This bust of Chaucer is in the Guild Hall Art Gallery in the City of London. 

Our weather goddess has decided to play April Fool's Day pranks on us here in Minnesota, giving us a cold and wet day with a small bit of snow today. However, just a bit farther west on the border of Minnesota and North Dakota at the towns of Fargo, ND and Moorhead MN, there is a blizzard and some places have received up to 20 inches (yes - 20 INCHES) of snow overnight. In fact, yesterday they were under both a blizzard and a tornado warning at the same time! I'm so very grateful that this storm hit the Red River region instead of a few hundred miles farther southeast.

Although this is actually a photo from yesterday afternoon, I wanted an old-time
feel to the picture. 

According to Wikipedia, if I shout out "April Fool" to you before noon, you are the Fool, but if it is after noon, I am the Fool. I suppose it depends on when you are reading this, but I'm writing this before 10:00 am London time, so I think I'm safe for at least two more hours. Therefore..."APRIL FOOL!" to all of my UK friends. My in-box has had several excellent April Fool's Day pranks already, the best being an offer for an upcoming clear coffee (a definite convenience for those who tend to spill their coffee or leave coffee stains on their paperwork at the office) from my local coffee house.

Some places in Europe celebrate April Fools Day by sneaking paper
fish onto the packs of unsuspecting victims. Thus - April Fish Day! 

I'm a bit (well ... maybe closer to a lot) frustrated today. The backspace key on my laptop was acting up, taking several pushes to get any response. so I had to pull it off and see what was messing it up. Now, newly cleaned and working well, I can't get the keypad re-installed properly and am now thinking up alternative methods of attaching my keypad instead. (grumble...growl...arghhhh!)  I'll fight with it for another day or two while I determine the best way to get things together again. Maybe watching the video from the photo below will be helpful since the connections are the same as what they have pictured.

I'll probably have to watch this video. It looks quite similar to the key
configuration I'm dealing with. *sigh*

On the other hand, I did a necklace repair for a customer the other day. It was repairing a single strand of a multi-strand twisted piece of pearls and faceted gemstones. Very pretty. She decided, when she came over to pick it up, that she wanted me to do the remaining strands also. So what was a quick $20 repair has now grown into a several hour $60-$80 repair and that's not a bad thing. I can use the money. So I'll settle down to that tomorrow.

YES! It looks as though our house sale is going through! 

And finally, apparently the house sale is proceeding and we will be able to put a "SOLD" addition onto our sign. The buyer had until midnight to pull out of the Purchase Agreement. Our Realtor phoned me last night telling me that the buyer will continue with the purchase, so now she needs to get her financing into line and have her bank appraise the property, then we're home free with an anticipated closing in mid-May. Although I tend to not look too far ahead, I'm hopeful that this is a done deal and that one more thing will be off our backs within six weeks. What a relief!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Happy April Fool's Day to all of you!

How Can It Be Monday Once Again?!?

I call this time of the year 'schizophrenic' because our weather can range from snow one day to 60 F temps the next. But as this craziness works its way into April, the show piles are beginning to melt, the bare branches of the trees are beginning to look more fuzzy and fuller, and the first green blades of grass are peeking from the fields of brown left by melted snow pack. Those who enjoy winter sports are moving them indoors - the outside ice rinks are beginning to melt down, the ski slope 'resorts' are only operating with manufactured snow to augment the remaining snow pack, and the cross country skiers are simply out of luck. Me? I can live with it. As long as we don't get a really fast thaw, we won't flood and if we can dodge that bullet, my spring will be perfect. The end of March through end of April are dangerous times for my home, so I'm crossing my fingers and toes and enjoying the fact that I can wear jackets other than down.

This lovely picture is ice melt ponds in the Arctic Sea, but this is happening on
a much smaller scale at every frozen lake in my state. Given that we have more
than 10,000 of those lakes, there's a lot of melting going on. 

That said, we'll still have snow for at least another week or two. It probably won't stick, but it will be enough to make traffic a headache. It will melt soon, but melting snow and ice refreezes overnight. This is the season for slipping on the ice and the injuries that come with that. Since I have osteoporosis, I try to be a bit cautious about ice as I'm walking to and fro.

I'm thinking perhaps some ice traction like these or like Yak Tracks
might be the way to go while we're in our freeze/melt cycle. 

I need a new travel coffee mug. I purchased my mug in January 2001 at Caribou Coffee because I wanted a cranberry colored travel mug to match my new PT Cruiser. I still own my Cruiser and I still use my coffee mug every work day. I used to have an acquaintance who sat nearby at our old Caribou hangout (before they remodeled) who also had one of these mugs, but he lost his. To the best of my knowledge, I have the oldest travel mug in continuous use in my immediate group of friends and acquaintances. But it leaks. Just sometimes and not predictably, but it can be very inconvenient if it drips onto a clean blouse before my work day begins. Caribou emailed me a picture of a new mug they will offer starting tomorrow. It's green, and it looks as though the bottom will be the right size for my cupholders. If so, I might consider it. But then again, a little leak vs saying goodbye to an old and faithful friend? I'll probably end up dreaming but not taking action.

My cup holders in my car are rather narrow. I've been caught
before by purchasing a new mug that didn't fit properly. If I
decide to buy a new one, I'll have to check that out carefully. 

For my friends who know how much I enjoy the writing of TJ Klune and how fantastic I found his relationship with Eric Arvin, another wonderful author, I have an update. Eric underwent emergency surgery in December to remove a cavernous hemangioma from his brain stem. He's doing well and TJ has hardly left his side. The artist, Paul Richmond, painted a great cover piece for Dreamspinner Press's anthology "Grand Adventures" and he gave the painting to Eric and TJ. With Dreamspinner's permission, he is selling prints of the artwork through their website, with 100% of the proceeds going to these two young and talented authors. If you enjoy reading their work, or like the artwork of Paul Richmond, you might want to consider purchasing a print for yourself or as a gift. Just follow the link. They are only available through April 30th.

And finally, for this Monday and last day of March, I wish only the best for you and yours today and through the month to come. March came in like a lion with snow, cold, freezing winds. It promised a fantastic lineup of authors and artists for B2MeM. It more than fulfilled that promise by presenting excellent stories and wonderful artwork throughout the month, accompanied by much milder temperatures by the end of the month. Lent is more than half-over, and Ostara has come and gone for another year. It was an eventful month. End it with a bang and get yourself ready for a new month starting tomorrow.

Weather is weather, you gotta love it! 

Happy Monday - Happy March 31st!