New Year's Evolutions

The storm did come, dropping about six inches of snow overnight and during the next day. There was nothing blizzardy about it, although at times it came down heavily enough that the high school across the street was barely visible through the flurries.

As I suspected, the snow plows were out on West Avenue during the storm, meaning the street was open, even when the storm subsided and side streets were still piled with snow. I decided that I would wait a couple days before heading out in the car.

Mark (handyman guy) showed up about 9:30 on Tuesday morning, with snowblower and snow shovel and salt. It took about and hour and a half for him to really clear out the snow, but when he left sidewalks and driveway were clear of snow and ice. He did such a good job that the few snow flurries we've gotten since (never more than an inch) simply melted away.

New Year's Eve was quiet and I spent it at home, which is not so out of the ordinary for me. Times Square in New York in on the East Coast feed, so there's no delay involved, like on the West Coast, so the ball dropped at 11 p.m. There was also the Chicago Star, which is raised at midnight Central Time. Once that happened, I went up to the balcony and watched the fireworks set off at Grandad Bluff to the east. It was a full show. I would have liked to go out on the balcony but the snow had piled into a drift against the door, about a foot. I did get the door open, so at least I got a clear look.

My Alma Mater's 2016 parade entry

On New Year's Day, I got up and checked out the channels carrying the Rose Parade (in L.A. I had always watched it on Channel 5 because there were no commercials). HGTV ended up being the only station without commercials, and they had a 30-minute delay, so it didn't start until 10:30 a.m.

I always watch for the Cal Poly float. I worked on one once. I remember putting gray bark on a very large elephant. Usually, the Cal Poly campuses in SLO and Pomona make the front and back halves, joining them about a week before the parade and finishing them off in Pasadena.

A curly-haired Jesus waves from the Lutheran float

Their entry, animated gummy bears, was very nice. And, not too far behind it, was the Lutheran float. They had Jesus on the float. Jesus was standing in front of a lighthouse (he's the light of the world; get it?). Jesus was waving to the crowd. His wig is cheap and obviously synthetic hair. He was very, very white. No semitic lines on that Scandinavian shayna punim. He seemed like a nice guy, though a little intimidated by the crowds.

In the early afternoon, I gave Steve a call. Even though it was New Year's Day, it was also Friday, and Friday is Pizza Night in Ettrick. Also, Pam had gone on a trip to Thailand with friends, so Steve was alone, if you don't count Glen and Avis. So I asked if we were doing Pizza Night and he said sure, and asked me to pick up a pizza on my way out. So I stopped at Papa Murphy's and picked up a take 'n' bake cowboy pizza and headed out to Ettrick for Pizza Night with brother Steve.

Fireplace before and after

I was just checking back in the posts and realize I never posted any before-and-after pictures of the floors, only a couple of in-the-process photos. So I dug back in my photo archive and put together these shots of what the floors looked like, well, before and after.

Before and after stairs

At the beginning of December, I realized trying to get stuff done on the house was problematic, since Mark was swamped with work, and I really wanted to focus on holidays with the Solberg side of the family. And although I am not officially related to them, I was drawn into the fold and shared their low-keyed celebrations (see the two previous posts).

This first week of the new year was on the warm side (34º and 36º highs), so things started melting. I was sitting in the living room when I heard distant dripping sounds. A quick check showed things melting everywhere. The piles of snow along the streets were melting, as well, and driving in town became a slushy wet mess but passable with reasonable driving.

Tamara (and new haircut) are in the mirror

Yesterday, I went to the barber (her name's Tamara and her specialty is beards and buzz cuts. I had let the beard grow out to the point of being Santalike. I was hoping to get those looks from little kids that a rotund, gray-bearded older man gets during the holidays. Didn't really happen for me, at least not last year. I left looking really sharp.

This morning I woke up. I knew the weekend was going to be a cold snap. When I checked the weather app on my phone, it read: "Wind Chill Advisory. From the National Weather Service. Wind chill advisory remains in effect from midnight tonight to 10 a.m. CST Sunday. Expect Wind chill values to range from 20 to 25 below zero between midnight and 10 a.m. Sunday. These cold wind chill values will cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin. Be sure to wear your hat and gloves." Awww, Mom…

Today, we've already hit our high of 24º. Presently, it's 16º, dropping to -1º tonight. Sunday's high is forecast at 9º, with a low of -5º. I think winter is really here. And now I've got to go out and do some shopping to stock up for at least the next week, as it's well below freezing for the next week (and the foreseeable future), and I want to hold up inside if things get too icky outside.

Snowflakes are falling lightly outside. Got to sign off and get to the store now.

I like winter, inconvenient though it is.