TIME: 8:55 PM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Drink
Tonight I needed a screwdriver.
Some peach flavored vodka and a little orange juice.
The purple chevron straw adds a little contrast.
“Scalded cats fear even cold water.”
Thomas Fuller (British Clergyman and Writer,1608-1661)
TIME: 9:52 AM – 1:39 PM
PLACE: Carlyle Lake, Carlyle Illinois
SUBJECT: 2014 Special Olympics Polar Plunge
My employer was one of the sponsors of the 2015 Special Olympics Polar Plunge.
I took the plunge last year.
This year, I just donated time and money.
I was one of the volunteers who verified funds during registration.
It was very cold.
This heater was very popular in the tent.
The boat ramp was a tad icy,
Since there was so much ice on the lake today, they had the plungers only go into the water about up to their knees.
The search and dive rescue team guys were in the water the whole time as a safety precaution.
I hope their suits worked.
“Religions change, but beer and wine remain”
Harvey Allen (American Writer, 1889-1949)
TIME: 9:12 PM
PLACE: My sister’s
SUBJECT: Beers on ice
StellaDella made her 1st Communion last weekend and her cousin, David, made his today. My sister and brother-in-law had everyone over after the Mass for supper. Another night of not having to make dinner…yayayaya!
“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.“
Doug Larson (English middle-distance runner who won gold medals at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, 1902-1981)
TIME: 8:49 AM
PLACE: Work parking lot
SUBJECT: Snow on tree bud
Someone needs to make sure Mother Nature takes her meds ‘cause she is going from one extreme to another this week here in the Midwest – she had us at almost 80 degree temps earlier in the week to waking us up to a layer of wet snow this morning. Oh well, at least she is keeping us on our toes.
Tai: Do you think she's pretty?
Cher: No, she's a full-on Monet.
Tai: What's a monet?
Cher: It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess. Let's ask a guy. Christian, what do you think of Amber?
Christian: Hagsville.
Cher: See?
Murphy, Brittney, Alicia Silverstone, and Justin Walker, perf. Clueless. Dir. Amy Heckerling. 1995. Paramount.
TIME: 8:26 AM
PLACE: The Jeep
SUBJECT: Ice on window
We must have had some rain last night, and since it was so cold, everything this morning had a layer of ice on it. We still do not own an ice scraper (now it’s so close to spring, I just don’t see the point in purchasing one), so after the car heated up a little, I rolled the windows down to try and remove the icy coating. The window went down, but the ice remained vertical. It made a nice little Monet-type filter as I looked out of the window. The black outline on the right side of the photo is the rear view mirror.
“Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier.”
Barbara Kingsolver (American Writer and Activist. b.1955)
TIME: 3:56 PM
PLACE: Back driveway
SUBJECT: Ice patch in the driveway gravel
What a difference a week makes. Our temps hit 70 degrees today and it is only supposed to get down to about 54 degrees tonight – crazy. With the warmth, much of the ice covering our ground is or has melted away. We had some small patches of ice remaining in front of our garage door which is in the shade most of the day. I messed around taking photos with my 50mm lens. This photo is a crop from of one of the pictures I snapped.
“But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm”
Robert Frost (1874-1963), U.S. poet. Birches (l. 21-22). . . The Poetry of Robert Frost. Edward Connery Lathem, ed. (1979) Henry Holt.
TIME: 5:13 PM
PLACE: Front yard
SUBJECT: Ice covered branches
Well, Ice-Pocalypse 2011 has arrived. The kids were off of school today and it has already been called off again for tomorrow. It’s cold. Freezing cold. In fact, tomorrow night they are calling for below zero temps – *shivers*. Here’s hoping the electricity stays on. If not, we’re heading for Dad’s house and his fireplace. Pop, I know you read this, so don’t be changing the locks on us!
“I had stopped to watch a family of brilliant icicles drip- dripping from the eaves of a frame house….”
Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian-born U.S. novelist, poet. "The Vane Sisters," Nabokov's Quartet (1966). The beginning of the story.
TIME: 4:03 PM
PLACE: Looking out the back door
SUBJECT: Icicles hanging off the porch eave
Shortly after I took SD’s photo yesterday, she started involuntarily emptying the contents of her stomach and continued to do so until about 1am this morning. I wasn’t feeling to up to snuff myself. Needless to say, she didn’t go to school and I didn’t go to work today. It was very cold today, I don’t think it got out of the teens, so it was kind of nice to be able to snuggle under the blankets with her and watch TV and nap all morning. We are feeling much better now, so it looks like school and work are both back in the picture for us tomorrow.
Orson Wells: Yes, Rosebud Frozen Peas. Full of country goodness and green pea-ness. Wait, that's terrible. I quit... Just a handful for the road.
[takes a handful of peas and walks away whilst munching loudly]
"Eyes on the Prize." The Critic. Perf. Maurice LaMarche. 2 Mar. 1994. Television.
TIME: 5:09 PM
PLACE: Kitchen
SUBJECT: Frozen peas
So I don’t have to rack my brain all the time for subject ideas, I downloaded the 53 Weekly Themes list from the Digital Photography School website. This week the theme is “Cold” - and what would be a better subject than a bowlful of frozen peas, complete with ice crystals, sitting and waiting to be microwaved for supper? Well, I’m sure there are colder things out there, but this is all I could come up with today.
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake...”
Francis Bacon, Sr. (English Lawyer and Philosopher. 1561-1626)
TIME: 3:19 PM
PLACE: North side of the house
SUBJECT: Icicle on Rose of Sharon branch
Back to the grind today. I was sooo tired. That’s what I get for staying up way too late and playing Peggle on the Xbox. Stupid, addicting game cutting in on my sleep time – but I managed to muddle through work and made it back home without falling asleep at my desk. After I ate a late lunch, StellaDella just had to show me the icicles she spied out of the window by my computer desk. She thought it was so cool how the afternoon light made them sparkle. They won’t be here much longer, we are expecting temps to hit the mid to upper 50’s along with some rain on Thursday.
“Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered—’Snow.’”
Rachel Lyman Field (1894-1942), U.S. writer. Something Told the Wild Geese (l. 1-4). . . Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America, The. Donald Hall, ed. (1985) Oxford University Press.
TIME: 8:33 AM
PLACE: S. 52nd St.
SUBJECT: Canadian geese
The kiddos were off school today because of the freezing weather. *rolls eyes*. I still had to go to work though. When I got into the Jeep on this morning, the outside temperature gauge read 5 degrees Fahrenheit….a bit chilly. You know its freezing when you see Canadian geese all curled up in a ball to keep warm. These guys were on a lake near my office building. Their bottoms have got to be frozen!
“Day after day, throughout the winter,
We hardened ourselves to live by bluest reason
In a world of wind and frost....”
Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), U.S. poet. "Meditation Celestial & Terrestrial."
TIME: 8:11 AM
PLACE: The Jeep
SUBJECT: Frost on car windshield
We woke up to our first frost of the season this morning. Brrrr. That means that winter is just around the corner. The ice was thick upon the windshield when we entered the car to drive to school and work. When I returned home in the early afternoon, I noticed that the house was chilly. The thermostat said it was 62 degrees – the furnace wasn’t working…again. *sigh* Lucky for me, I know this guy who will fix it for just the cost of the parts ($42 this time) ~ the labor is free ~ he takes it out in trade later. Thank you HandsomeHusband.
Narrator: Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, was frozen in 1967 and defrosted in the Nineties to battle his nemesis, Dr. Evil. After foiling his archenemy's plan to send a nuclear warhead to the center of the earth, Austin banished Dr. Evil to the cold recesses of space and settled down with his new wife, Vanessa, to live happily ever after. Or so he thought...
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Perf. Tony Jay. Dir. Jay Roach. 1999. New Line Cinema.
TIME: 6:16 PM
PLACE: Basement
SUBJECT: Freezer
I went to the grocery store after lunch to pick up a few items. When I returned home, I went downstairs to put away the frozen stuff. As I went to open the freezer door, I noticed water puddling by my feet and thought, “This is not good.” It wasn’t. All of the meat was unthawed and beginning to smell; the frozen vegetable bags and dinner boxes were all soft and squishy. Into the trash bag it all went. In addition, the ice build up was tremendous and a frozen tundra of frost covered the shelves. HH and I launched an investigation and determined the culprit. It was MonkeyBoy. He did not close the door tightly Saturday morning when retrieving his water containers for football practice. As punishment, we’re locking him in the un-insulated attic for a week with only bread and water to eat. (I’m kidding!) *Sigh* Well, I hadn’t defrosted the freezer in over a year. I guess it was time anyway.
“A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.”
Carl Reiner (American, Actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian, b1922)
TIME: 9:02 PM
PLACE: Backyard
SUBJECT: Freezing snow on branch
We are supposed to get hit with 2-4 inches of the white stuff by tomorrow morning. I went out to take some photos and I was shaking so much that most of them turned out blurry. I know, I know…I should use a tripod! But, I was lazy and just didn’t feel like hauling that outside with me. Right now, we’ve got a mixture of snow and rain going on. I wonder what it will look like outside when I wake up tomorrow morning. Should be interesting.
“Enjoyed it! One more drink and I'd have been under the host.”
Dorothy Parker (American short-story Writer and Poet, 1893-1967)
TIME: 8:12 PM
PLACE: Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
SUBJECT: $1 Margarita on the rocks
I got a "kitchen pass" to go out to dinner with my old college roommate and good friend, Denise. She wanted to take me out for my birthday and catch up because we realized that we hadn't gotten together since StellaDella's birthday in February! So we went to a local restaurant, had dinner, some beverages and chatted. Then we went to a tavern that happened to have a band whose keyboard player/singer is a friend from high school. His wife, who was there as well, is another former high school classmate. We haven't seen either of them in quite some time. We ended up doing even more chatting and catching up with her and when the band took their breaks, we did the same with him. As for the bar scene, all I can say is I am SO glad I am married (and happily so most of the time -right honey? *wink*) and am not out there in the "searching for someone" arena. It's brutal out there!
